News Release
Monday 02 October 2000
CONTACT: Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director, tel: 202-686-2210,
ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org
Court Rules Against USDA’s
Secrecy and Failure to Disclose Conflict of Interest in Setting
Nutrition Policies
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Agriculture
violated federal law by keeping secret certain documents used in
setting federal nutrition policies and by hiding financial conflicts
of interest among members of a diet advisory committee, U.S. District
Judge James Robertson said in a ruling made public today.
The ruling is a major victory for the Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a Washington, D.C.-based research and
advocacy group that had lodged the lawsuit in Federal District Court
for the District of Columbia on December 15, 1999.
PCRM had argued that at least six of the 11 members of the Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee, which formulates the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans, had financial ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries
that may have made it more likely that unhealthy foods would remain
in the government’s diet plan. PCRM’s suit also charged that the
government had undercut the public’s ability to participate in and
understand the Committee’s activities. The Dietary Guidelines provide
nutrition advice for all Americans and form the basis for all federal
food programs, including the School Lunch Program.
While USDA had provided information showing financial conflicts
of interest for six committee members, Judge Robertson faulted the
Department for refusing to provide details on an additional conflict
of interest involving a payment of more than $10,000 for one member.
This additional conflict has not yet been revealed, but PCRM anticipates
its disclosure within a matter of days.
“Having advisors tied to the meat or dairy industries is
as inappropriate as letting tobacco companies decide our standards
for air quality,” said PCRM president Neal D. Barnard, M.D.
Mindy Kursban, PCRM’s attorney, said, “We hope that this
Court’s strong ruling against the government will make the USDA
think twice before appointing Committee members with inappropriate
industry ties.”
Prior to initiating the lawsuit, PCRM’s efforts to change federal
diet guidelines had won the support of the NAACP, former Surgeon
General Joycelyn Elders, Martin Luther King, III, Muhammad Ali,
and many others who objected to the overpromotion of meat and dairy
products given the prevalence of lactose intolerance and diet-related
diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, among
racial minorities.
The doctors’ group scored a partial victory in February, when the
advisory committee accepted non-dairy foods, such as soymilk, as
acceptable alternatives to dairy products.
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
promotes preventive medicine and higher standards in medical research,
education, and practice. PCRM is a nonprofit organization based
in Washington, D.C.
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