New state committee begins work to develop nutrition guidelines, education requirements for Texans

A new state committee has less than a year to produce a report that could have an effect on continuing education requirements for medical providers.The Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee is required to submit a report by September that includes its nutritional guidelines and recommendations. During the 2025 session, the state legislature established the TNAC to examine how nutrition affects health and how “ultra-processed foods” are connected to chronic diseases.The committee’s report would also establish educational requirements around nutrition across all stages of education, from kindergarten to medical education.“Texas is going to be setting a national momentum around addressing these issues with intention,” Dr. Jaclyn Albin, associate program director for UT Southwestern’s Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency and TNAC chair said Wednesday. “We want to engage as many fellow Texans who are passionate about this work as possible.”The committee’s first meeting this week highlighted the significant tasks they’ve been asked to complete. In addition to developing dietary and nutritional guidelines, it also has to provide education and an “independent review of scientific studies” analyzing the effects of ultra-processed foods on human health.Federal health agencies announced an effort to “address the health risks” of ultra-processed foods last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services released new dietary guidelines earlier this month that encourage people to “eat real food” and avoid processed food.Albin said there are some existing “systematic reviews” that analyze studies on ultra-processed foods to understand how the data is evolving – but for the committee to develop its own will be challenging.“We could definitely focus in on areas where we think there are gaps and relook at the literature thoroughly,” she said. “The process of that is extremely rigorous and time intensive and requires a lot of research expertise to ensure there’s no bias in the approach.”Albin said she would like to have several established partners, like larger academic and research institutions or groups, to help facilitate the review. However, the committee doesn’t have any funding available to develop the report, which could limit the organizations that are able to contribute.Kathleen Davis, associate professor of nutrition at Texas Women’s University and vice chair of the committee, said an evidence review can take one or two years.“This is a small group for what seems like a really large project,” she said.Davis said the committee should ensure it’s making solid recommendations because they will be used to inform continuing education for many professions, including doctors and dietitians.“If it’s very delayed then there are a lot of groups waiting for guidance,” Davis said.Albin said lawmakers expect those guidelines for medical education to be implemented “beginn Read More