USDA: Stop Helping Restaurants Sell Junk Food

Even as the USDA claims that it wants Americans to make healthier choices, it's working behind the scenes to help put high-calorie, high-fat foods in restaurants around the country.

The USDA oversees the "dairy checkoff," a group that works with fast-food giants such as McDonald's, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut to introduce and promote menu items containing even more dairy -- and, in turn, even more fat, cholesterol and calories. For instance, the dairy checkoff has helped publicize Starbucks Smoothies (which contain 41 grams of sugar) and McDonald's McCafe products (which have 450 calories each).

With the help of the dairy checkoff, Americans are exposed to endless ads urging them to buy cheeseburgers and steak quesadillas. Even items that already contain dairy, like pizza, are loaded with even more fattening cheese and pushed onto the public. The campaign is even sneaking into schools -- the checkoff program promotes sugar-laden flavored milk to young kids in the guise of "nutrition." And all the while, the dairy industry reaps the profits.

The government should be trying to solve America's health problems, not make them even worse. Tell the USDA to ditch the dairy checkoff and stop helping restaurants sell junk food!