Perspective: Examining Conflicts of Interest for Professional Service within the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
- PMID: 36997092
- PMCID: PMC10201810
- DOI: 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.03.009
Perspective: Examining Conflicts of Interest for Professional Service within the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
Abstract
Judgments and integrity uphold professionalism. Failure to manage professional conflicts of interest (COIs) may undermine trust in an individual, practitioner, or institution. This perspective article examines standards for nutrition researchers and practitioners to manage COIs for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) process. Thereafter, this article analyzes a study published by Mialon et al. that raised concerns about the expert advisory committee selection process and management of COIs for 20 professionals appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the USDA, who served on a federal government advisory committee to review evidence for the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) 2020 scientific report. The analysis found that Mialon et al. enumerated COIs for each DGAC member with industry, removed from the original context, which prevented readers from assessing the COI risk. Moreover, the USDA ethics office concluded that "the 20 committee members were in full compliance with the federal ethics rules applicable to special government employees." I conclude that Mialon et al. could use institutional mechanisms to encourage the USDA and HHS to strengthen future COI policies and procedures, aligned with the 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report recommendations to improve the DGA 2025 to 2030 process.
Keywords: Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee; advisory committee; bias; conflicts of interest; dietary guidelines.
Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Comment in
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Conflicts of Interest for Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Members: Neither a New Nor Unexplored Issue.Adv Nutr. 2023 Sep;14(5):1246-1247. doi: 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.07.003. Adv Nutr. 2023. PMID: 37709369 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
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Reply to M Mialon et al.Adv Nutr. 2023 Sep;14(5):1248-1249. doi: 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.07.002. Adv Nutr. 2023. PMID: 37709370 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
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