Update:  The second meeting of the 2015 DGAC has been announced in the Federal Register.  The meeting will take place on October 3 from 8:30am-11:30am (including oral testimony) and October 4 from 8:30am – 3:45pm.It is time to start working on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans!It seems like just yesterday that we announced the report from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Committee. And now the next committee is already hard at work on the report for 2015.So, what are the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and why should you care about them? Well, here's what they say on their site:

The first edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released in 1980. As mandated in Section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341), the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is reviewed, updated, and published every 5 years in a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).Beginning with the 1985 edition, HHS and USDA have appointed a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) consisting of nationally recognized experts in the field of nutrition and health. The charge to the Committee is to review the scientific and medical knowledge current at the time. The Committee then prepares a report for the Secretaries that provides recommendations for the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines based on their review of current literature.Source: http://dietaryguidelines.gov

Want to know who's who? Here's a list of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Committee Members:Chair:Barbara Millen, DrPH, RD, Millennium PreventionVice- Chair:Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, Tufts UniversityMembers:

• Steven Abrams, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
• Lucile Adams-Campbell, PhD, Georgetown University Medical Center
• Cheryl Anderson, PhD, MPH, University of California, San Diego
• J Thomas Brenna, PhD, Cornell University
• Wayne Campbell, PhD, Purdue University
• Steven Clinton, MD, PhD, The Ohio State University
• Gary Foster, PhD, Temple University
• Frank Hu, MD, PhD, MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
• Miriam Nelson, PhD, Tufts University
• Marian Neuhouser, PhD, RD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• Rafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD, Yale University
• Anna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD, RD, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Mary Story, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Report is used by many public health agencies to drive public health recommendations programs (think the USDA school lunch program and the MyPlate icon). The Dietary Guidelines apply to all Americans ages 2 and older. By 2020, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans hope to also cover guidelines for infants.So, how can you prepare for the release of the next set of guidelines?Visit the NEL library - Read through the Nutrition Evidence Library, which is an amazing resource for evidence-based nutrition information. Health literacy begins with good, credible information.Submit a commentFollow the public comments Attend a meeting via webcast or follow along with the committee by reading transcripts and archived webcasts. View the committee schedule from now until the fall of 2015. That's when the 8th edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans will be published.Still want more? Read the article we wrote about the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Report release! AND enjoy the work of all of the previous committees by checking out the MyPlate icon at http://www.choosemyplate.gov. The new SuperTracker tool just reached 2.5 million users! Plus, soon the USDA will be adding a MyRecipe function that allows users to add recipes and evaluate nutrition!There's also a whole new message from MyPlate for the next 6 months...What's the right amount of calories for you?

1. Enjoy your food, but eat less.
2. Avoid oversized portions.
3. Be active, your way.
4. Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Check out the MyPlate Education Materials in the Nutrition Education Store: Check out the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Materials in the Nutrition Education Store