Who better to write the U.S. dietary guidelines than the nation's food producers? Anyone, really. Still, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for the task - a committee made up of people tied to industry kings like Proctor & Gamble, Kraft and the Sugar Association. Not surprisingly, the guide downplays the dangers of crappy foods.

In a letter of complaint to the Department of Health and Human Services, 25 leading U.S. nutritionists say they'd have liked to see advice like, "Eat less cheese, beef, pork, whole and 2 per cent milk, egg yolks, pastries and other foods high in saturated fat, trans fat or cholesterol." What they got was, "Choose fats wisely for good health" - wisdom the nutritionists call "so vague as to be useless." At least one politico agrees.

Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald has worked to put the Institute of Medicine in charge of the guidelines, arguing that assigning the USDA the role "is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse."

» Scott Saxon