(NAFB.com) – The National Chicken Council urged the Department of Health and Human Services to reject recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee emphasizing plant-based proteins over lean meats like chicken. Among the recommendations that the NCC took issue with was the emphasis on eating beans, peas, and lentils as optimal protein sources above chicken. There was no specific mention that lean meat, like chicken, can be part of a healthy dietary pattern. “We believe these recommendations and omissions are harmful to the human health of all Americans, especially those relying on federal feeding programs,” says Dr. Ashley Peterson, NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. “The committee also provided no scientific fact or justification to support why protein subgroups need to be reordered to deemphasize lean meats, like chicken.” NCC also says plant proteins are not nutritionally equivalent at all to animal proteins from a protein quality and quantity standpoint.