Pork Serves Up Facts, Fun at Dietitians’ Conference

As the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) offers a key audience to promote pork’s role in a healthy diet. To connect with these influential food and nutrition professionals, the Pork Checkoff headed to Chicago recently for the ADA’s Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, which attracted more than 8,000 registered dietitians from across the United States.

“This year we handed out our hot-off-the-press, updated materials for health professionals, including a pork recipe brochure and a cardboard plate that dietitians can use to show proper food portion sizes,” says Ceci Snyder, assistant vice president of consumer marketing for the National Pork Board.

The ADA conference allowed Pork Checkoff representatives to highlight a recent study showing that timing of dietary protein intake, including pork, affects feelings of fullness throughout the day. This year’s conference took on additional significance, since the American Dietary Guidelines are currently being revised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“These guidelines, which are reassessed every five years, set the tone for dietitians’ recommendations,” Snyder says. “They were a hot topic at the ADA conference this year, as well as an important issue for the pork industry.”

To boost ADA conference attendees’ knowledge of The Other White Meat, Indiana pork producer Alan Wilhoite assisted with a trivia contest that focused on nutrition research, food safety and all things pork. Players received a pork t-shirt for rolling the dice and testing their pork I.Q.

To address emerging issues related to food and nutrition, the Pork Checkoff will continue to work closely with dietitians and the ADA, Snyder says. “It’s important to educate these health professionals so they can help their clients learn about pork’s role in a healthy diet.”

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