Fat in the fire amid fears new dietary guidelines fudge the facts

NEW national food guidelines expected to be released next week are already causing controversy.

NEW national food guidelines expected to be released next week are already causing controversy, with nutritionists and industry concerned they put ideology ahead of science.

There is speculation that the National Health and Medical Research Council's Australian Dietary Guidelines will explicitly link sugar in soft drinks with cancer.

Nutritionists are concerned that sections on fats attack the so-called bad saturated and trans fats but ignore the importance of "good" poly and monounsaturated fats in a healthy diet.

There are also concerns that some peer reviewers used in the process have an anti-industry bias and that references have been selectively chosen.

And sources close to the development of the guidelines say an environmental appendix originally slammed the impact of cloven-hoof animals, effectively promoting a radical vegetarian agenda.

"When food regulation blurs into lifestyle regulation it loses sight of common sense and the punters end up ignoring it," one industry source said.

One of the country's foremost nutritionists, Stewart Truswell, has said the draft guidelines do "not reflect the scientific evidence" on fats.

"The new draft seems to confuse reducing fat as a measure against obesity with advice on the desirable proportions of dietary fat," he wrote to the NHMRC chief executive officer, Warwick Anderson, last year.

Professor Truswell also criticised the treatment of fetal alcohol syndrome in its section on indigenous people and the limited information on nutrition for the ever-increasing older population.

National Heart Foundation chief executive Lyn Roberts said the guidelines needed to better reflect the evidence around replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, or more specifically the food containing these fats.

"We believe the guidelines should reflect recommendations for healthier fats to be consumed by all Australians, rather than a low-fat diet," she said.

"We're hopeful that these changes will be included in the final version of the guidelines when they are released."

Australian Food and Grocery Council chief executive Gary Dawson said the consultation process had been long and at times challenging. "We had a concern across a number of areas that the science was being viewed through a prism of predetermined political positions," he said, pointing to the treatment of sugar, fats, oils and dairy in draft versions.

Mr Dawson said the guidelines could stand for a decade or longer.

"It has to be absolutely rock solid," he cautioned.

"If it is undermined in any way at all by the suggestion that it's been massaged by a political agenda, then it undermines the core integrity of the document.

"We're still concerned that some guidelines may not properly reflect the established science,

but we'll wait and see the final product."

A spokesman for the NHMRC said the final guidelines would be "scientifically rigorous yet practical".

He said the council had consulted with experts in food, nutrition and health locally and internationally and sought feedback from members of the public, industry, government departments, and health professionals.