Opportunities for Public Comment
USDA and HHS provided the following opportunities for public input and comment related to the Committee’s work.
- Topics and Scientific Questions: For the first time, the Departments proposed and sought public comments on the topics and scientific questions to be examined by the Committee. During the comment period from February 28 – March 30, 2018, the public sent in more than 12,000 comments via more than 6,000 submissions to Regulations.gov.
- Committee Nominations: The public was invited to nominate individuals for the Committee. Nominations were accepted from September 6 – October 6, 2018. The 20 members of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee were selected from among 180 individuals the public nominated to serve on the Committee.
- During the Committee’s Work: The public was invited to provide comments to the Committee on all aspects of its work for more than a year – from March 12, 2019 through June 10, 2020. A total of 62,339 comments were submitted during this comment period.
- Comments on the Committee’s Scientific Report: The public was invited to provide public comments on the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. During this comment period from July 15 – August 13, 2020, a total of 38,367 comments were submitted. USDA and HHS will consider the Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report, along with public and agency comments, as the Departments develop the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines.
Public Meetings
The public was encouraged to attend meetings either in-person, when available, or by webcast.
- The Committee held six meetings that were well attended by the public. Most people attended meetings virtually, and on average, more than 1,000 people attended each meeting.
- Public engagement with the Committee’s work continues, with more than 13,000 views of past meeting clips and counting. View past meetings through this page.
- For the first time in decades, the Committee held a meeting outside of Washington, DC in Houston, TX, and a second oral public comment session was added for the Committee to hear comments from the public on its work. More than 125 oral comments were provided to the Committee across the two oral comment sessions at Meeting 2 and 4.
- USDA and HHS heard public comments from 73 people on the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee at the August 11, 2020 public comment meeting.
Professional Education
Registered nutrition professionals could obtain up to 49 continuing education credits for watching all of the Committee meetings. Interest in continuing education was high with about half of meeting registrants expressing interest in this opportunity. Professionals expressed their appreciation for the complimentary CPE credits and the value the meetings added to their professional development.