HAB’s Avocado Nutrition Center Is Engaged in the Public Comment Process for 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The development process for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) has begun. Updated every five years in a multi-step process, the DGAs provide science-based advice on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce risk of chronic disease, and meet nutrient needs, and serve as the framework for many federal feeding programs.
In an effort to promote transparency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the initial scientific questions on April 14, 2022, providing the public opportunity to submit feedback as the first step in the development of the next edition of the DGAs.
In its commitment to engaging in public health policy, the Hass Avocado Board’s Avocado Nutrition Center submitted comments to be examined in the review of evidence supporting the development of the DGAs, 2025-2030. Along with its comments, the HAB’s Avocado Nutrition Center shared research and information on relevant nutrition topics and the role of avocados in achieving a healthy dietary pattern and helping Americans meet fruit, vegetable, unsaturated fats/oils, as well as nutrient needs, across the life span.
Following this public comment period, HHS and USDA will seek nominations for the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee from the public. This announcement will be made through DietaryGuidelines.gov and the Federal Register in the coming months.
To be strong problem-solvers and better equipped to make a meaningful difference in the avocado industry, Class 3 of the Board Leadership Development (BOLD) program will have more in-person, hands-on instruction than ever before.
With 90% of Hispanics buying avocados, read about the latest strides to engage this important segment through Aguacates Frescos – Saborea Uno Hoy®. This culturally-relevant campaign drew in 25K+ interested in avocado goodness.
Fresh Hass avocados, as well as all other raw fruits and vegetables, became eligible for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for the “Dietary Saturated Fat and Cholesterol and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease” health claim, earning the difficult-to-achieve American Heart Association Heart-Check Food Certification.
2021
BOLD Program
The BOLD initiative is a leadership development program designed to help train the next generation of HAB board members and avocado industry leadership. By equipping BOLD participants with training that they need to meaningfully contribute to the HAB board and to advocate for the avocado industry, HAB is investing in its future success.
2020
Quality Improvement
Helping to ensure fruit quality across all countries of origin led HAB to create a set of best practices for each step in the supply chain. The Avocado Quality Manual is the #1 download from the HAB site. The focus on quality provides substantial value to the collective industry as it seeks to deliver consistency and exceed customer and consumer expectations – one avocado at a time.
2013
Fresh Avocados – Love One Today®
Armed with a deep bench of highly credible nutrition research findings, HAB launched Love One Today®, a leading source of the healthiest reasons and tastiest ways to enjoy fresh avocados. The Love One Today® efforts that are still going strong today have helped to educate countless registered dietitians, health professionals, and consumers about the nutrition benefits of fresh avocados regardless of country of origin or seasonality, and ways to include them in everyday meals – literally changing public perception of the fruit and removing consumption barriers.
“Love One Today® has changed public opinion of avocados. Avocados were perceived to be a high-calorie fruit that had to be consumed in moderation. Today they are known as a nutrient-dense, heart-healthy fruit that you can enjoy and feel good about it.”
Emiliano Escobedo, Hass Avocado Board, Executive Director
2010
Avocado Nutrition Center
As the American palate was developing a taste for avocados, it was coming with some caveats around concerns about fat content and nutritional benefits. Could something this tasty really be good for you? HAB launched the Avocado Nutrition Center (ANC), a world-class nutrition research program to find out. During the past two decades, more than 40 nutrition studies conducted independently by researchers at top-tier institutions have been funded delving into the unique benefits of avocados on heart health, diabetes, weight management, cognitive function and more. The highly credible and transparent nutrition research findings have proven powerfully favorable for the little green fruit. In fact, the heart health-related studies helped avocados meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of a “healthy” food. Without the ANC, most of the research into the avocado as a whole food wouldn’t exist.
“Time and time again trends circle back to nutrition, and as studies continue to fill the pipeline, we realize we are just scratching the surface of our understanding of how nutritionally dense and dimensional the avocado is for mankind.”
Scott Bauwens, Former Chairperson, Hass Avocado Board and CEO, Simpatica
2014
Hass Avocado Committee
The Hass Avocado Committee created a venue for discussion of motions at the committee level before going to the board for the final decision. Under this structure, domestic and foreign representatives now had a voice and input on important matters that came before the board, as well as a platform to solve industry challenges together. The Hass Avocado Committee was and remains a revolutionary step in building trust and fostering cooperation among competitors for the greater good.
“Becoming an independent organization meant we could own the vision. We had to build better relationships. The Hass Avocado Committee started with dialogue and bringing people together to broker cooperation. It took a lot of persistence.”
Bob Schaar, Former International Representation Committee Chairperson and Avocado Grower, California
2014
Avocado Volume and Inventory System (AVIS)
While the concept of data sharing is as old as HAB itself, in the early days, the quality was hampered by the pervasive mistrust among the HAB partners. Yet, over time as collaboration and cooperation evolved, so did the credibility and quality of the data inputs. The key players saw the value and built the Avocado Volume and Inventory System (AVIS) which became a widely successful global industry intelligence engine providing invaluable information related to U.S. avocado supply, inventory and sales.
“The information coming out of HAB on volumes is fantastic. HAB does a great job of listening and responding to our consumers and has done a very good job informing the industry on who our customers are and how to grow our business. We as marketers use this information to grow the entire avocado category and we share this information with our customers.”