by Margie King
Nutrition Examiner

Recently the Harvard School of Public Health issued its criticism of the new USDA 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, complaining that among other things, the new guidelines were too soft on red meat.  It points out that a porterhouse steak has 44 grams of fat, 16 of which are saturated fats, and that should mean eating red meat sparingly.

Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, disagrees and faults the guidelines for continuing to demonize saturated fats based on unsound science.

“The proposed 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines perpetuate the mistakes of previous guidelines in demonizing saturated fats and animal foods rich in saturated fatty acids such as egg yolks, butter, whole milk, cheese, fatty meats like bacon and animal fats for cooking. The current obesity epidemic emerged as vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates replaced these healthy, nutrient-dense traditional fats. Animal fats supply many essential nutrients that are difficult to obtain from other sources,” explained Ms. Morell.