Dairy and Today's Dietary Guidelines

The USDA's newly revised Food Guidance System, MyPyramid, aims to motivate and educate consumers to make positive diet and lifestyle choices. It visually depicts the nutrient-dense foods Americans should consume on a daily basis and stresses the importance of physical activity. One of those food categories happens to be dairy. In fact, MyPyramid

recommends three cups of low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products such as milk, cheese and yogurt every day.

"Three servings of dairy a day help meet the nutrition requirements for four of the seven most critical nutrients adult Americans are lacking: vitamin A, calcium, magnesium and potassium," says Greg Miller, senior v.p., nutrition and product innovation, Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI). "They also provide three of the five nutrients kids are lacking: calcium, magnesium and potassium."

MyPyramid's dairy recommendation also complements the 3-A-Day™ of Dairy program, which encourages the consumption of three servings of dairy every day for bone health. In addition, 3-A-Day communicates the dairy and weight loss connection.

Beverage manufacturers can take advantage of the healthy halo that dairy possesses in order to market their products. Flagging the dairy content on beverages may just make consumers reach out and grab a bottle.