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Last week, the 2010 dietary guidelines were jointly released by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. Issued every five years, this draft is open to public comments up until July 15^th. Any comments made will be taken into consideration for the final report due the end of the year.

Some of the changes from the 2005 version include a reduction in sodium as well as a reduction in overall calorie consumption. The adjustment to calorie intake is partly due to the increased concern on the obesity epidemic affecting both children and adults in the US. Once finalized, this report will likely affect some major pieces of legislation like the Food Safety Bill which is currently held up in Congress. Further, many non-governmental organizations are likely to use the guidelines to establish their own recommendations. Already, we have seen several food manufacturing companies taking a proactive approach and voluntarily reducing the amount of sodium in their products.

Last week, the Pew Health Group released the results of a survey conducted in the battleground state of Ohio on attitudes related to food safety regulation.  The poll was conducted by the bipartisan team of Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies.

Cleveland, OH – An overwhelming majority of Ohio voters – 91 percent – support food safety legislation that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authority to ensure the food Americans eat does not make them sick, according to a new poll commissioned by the Pew Health Group and conducted by Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies.

Support for stronger food protections is high regardless of voters’ gender, income level or political affiliation. The statewide survey of 501 registered voters, conducted from October 8-9, 2009, has a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent. Full survey results are available at www.MakeOurFoodSafe.org/.

According to the survey, Ohio voters are worried about food borne illness.

The survey shows that nearly half of Ohio voters polled (49 percent) say that bacterial contamination of food worries them, and more than half (56 percent) of voters say what they have seen and heard in the last year has made them less confident in the safety of food sold in the United States.

With numbers like these, in a critical battleground state like Ohio, can legislative initiatives and and heightened regulatory activity be far behind?