Americans’ Dairy Consumption Below Recommendations
Hodan
Farah Wells and Jean
C. Buzby
Americans are consuming more dairy products
than in 1970, but the average American diet still
falls short of the daily recommendations for milk
and milk products. The good news is that many Americans
are taking other dietary messages to heart and have
switched to lower fat milks and cheeses.
According to ERS’s Loss-Adjusted
Food Availability data, Americans on average consumed
1.8 cups of dairy products per person per day in
2005. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
and the supporting MyPyramid Food Guidance System
recommend that Americans consume 2-3 cups of milk
and milk products daily, depending on their age,
gender, and level of physical activity.
The total amount of dairy products
available for consumption in the U.S., according
to ERS’s Food Availability data, grew from
564 pounds per person (milkfat basis) in 1970 to
about 601 pounds per person in 2005, with some products
rising and others declining. ERS’s per capita
availability estimates are calculated by dividing
the total annual supply of a commodity by the U.S.
population that year. Although these estimates do
not directly measure actual quantities ingested,
they provide an indication of whether Americans,
on average, are consuming more or less of various
foods over time. Cheese contributed significantly
to the increase in dairy product availability. Higher
sales of resealable bags of shredded cheeses used
for snacks or as ingredients in cooking accounted
for part of the tripling of per capita cheese availability
from 11 pounds to 31 pounds from 1970 to 2005. Cheeses
are also used in commercially prepared foods, including
pizzas, stuffed pastas, and frozen and refrigerated
entrees. Yogurt and cream products were also up
from 1970.
In contrast, availability of other
dairy products is down from 1970 levels. Milk availability
dropped from 31 gallons to 21 gallons per person
from 1970 to 2005. Part of this decline can be attributed
to competition from other beverages, such as carbonated
soft drinks, coffee, and bottled water. Bottled
water availability grew from 1.6 gallons per person
in 1976 to 25.4 gallons per person in 2005. Availability
of cottage cheese, evaporated and condensed milk,
dry milk, and frozen dairy products declined between
1970 and 2005.
The Guidelines recommend
choosing fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
Are Americans doing this? Whole-milk availability
decreased from 26 gallons per person in 1970 to
7 gallons per person in 2005, while lower fat milks
grew from 6 to 14 gallons per person suggesting
that 68 percent of milk is now lower fat varieties.
Americans also are increasingly choosing lower fat
cheeses. According to the International Dairy Foods
Association, supermarket sales of reduced-fat, low-fat,
and nonfat cheese grew by 134 million pounds between
1999 and 2005. During the same period, sales of
regular cheese declined by 58 million pounds. Mozzarella,
which is lower in fat than other cheeses such as
Cheddar and Swiss, has overtaken Cheddar to become
America’s favorite cheese.
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