The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) are expected to soon release the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), and it could be a major moment for the dairy industry.

For decades, the DGA has recommended Americans limit dairy intake to low-fat and fat-free products. This year, that long-standing restriction could be removed, reflecting a wide body of recent nutrition science showing that dairy fats are unique and support neutral to positive health outcomes. This could be a significant opportunity for dairy brands and communicators to share the science and stories behind milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and other dairy products at all fat levels.

To help you prepare, IDFA has developed a comprehensive messaging guide designed specifically for dairy communicators and marketers. The guide will help your teams:

  • Understand the history and significance of this DGA update for dairy
  • Communicate the science supporting dairy at all fat levels fitting into healthy diets
  • Tailor your outreach using segment-specific messaging for milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream
  • Apply messaging do’s and don’ts to ensure credibility and impact
  • Access links to additional IDFA resources for your marketing and media efforts

IDFA members can download the messaging guide via the link below. If you are an IDFA member and cannot see the link below, please sign in to the website via the red circle in the top right corner of your browser.

Please note: this guide is not a reflection of the contents of the upcoming DGA report, and it assumes the upcoming report will be positive for dairy at all fat levels. That may not happen. The messages in the guide are industry messages about the science supporting dairy at all fat levels, not messages contained with the DGA report. IDFA will update members on the contents of the report when it is released.

For any questions related to the DGAs Messaging Guide, please contact a member of the IDFA team:

Matt Herrick

Executive Vice President, Chief Impact Officer

Andrew Jerome

Vice President, Communications

Jeffrey Cullen

Director, Video Production and Digital Communications

Mariah Minnick

Manager, Communications