The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) plans to recommend that added sugars constitute no more than 6 percent of calories, a reduction from the current recommendation of 10 percent.
Although the DGAC’s findings associate added sugars with some adverse conditions and outcomes, the reduction appears to be driven more by the committee’s food pattern modeling. To attain nutrient adequacy within a fixed total calorie intake, the committee basically found that only 5 or 6 percent of calories were “left over” and available to indulge in added sugars once dietary needs were met.
The committee’s final report has not yet been released, and the recommendation for 6 percent will not be official until publication of the report, expected around July 15, 2020. However, there was no discernible dissent from the recommendation during the June 17 discussion.
For reference, in a 2,000 calorie diet, 10 percent of calories (200) equate to 50 grams of added sugars since each gram of carbohydrate has 4 calories. A lower 6 percent of calories would be 120 calories or 30 grams of added sugars.
The DGAC report does not itself constitute the actual Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are prepared by USDA and HHS. It is unusual but not unheard-of for the final guidelines to differ from the advisory committee report. USDA and HHS will take comments on the DGAC report once it is published.