I don’t rely on the government for nutrition advice but apparently some people do. The FDA certainly spends a lot of time and resources telling us what we should and should not eat. Mostly I ignore these guidelines because, by now, I know to choose broccoli over doughnuts. But if the FDA is going to be the arbiter of “healthy,” you would hope they would take the big-picture view.

I don’t believe in designating individual foods as healthy or not healthy; a sensible dietary pattern can accommodate most foods. So does it aggravate me that the FDA just announced that it doesn’t consider cheese (including cottage cheese) or whole-milk yogurt to be healthy? Under the new rules, none of the foods pictured above can sport a “healthy” claim on the label. But nonfat yogurt held together with gums and sweetened with saccharin? No problem.

Last month the FDA updated its rules regarding the use of the word “healthy” on packaged foods. The revised criteria are more in line with nutrition science, according to the agency. After the rules take effect in 2028, the only dairy products that may have “healthy” on the label are nonfat and low-fat milk and nonfat and low-fat yogurt, both with no added sugar. Cheese is not healthy. Whole-milk yogurt is not healthy. Please, nobody tell the Greeks.

Certainly, nutrition experts aren’t uniformly on board with the FDA’s view. “There is robust science that indicates not all saturated fats are created equal,” says Dana Engel, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the National Dairy Council. “The profile of saturated fat in whole-milk dairy leads to neutral if not positive benefits, particularly with cardiovascular outcomes.”

A recently published peer-reviewed study by Moises Torres-Gonzalez, Ph.D., vice president for nutrition research at the National Dairy Council, and colleagues found an inverse relationship between whole-milk consumption and body weight in adults. Check out these consumer-focused articles by Torres-Gonzalez on cheese and full-fat dairy.

"The FDA’s new labeling guidelines can lead to healthier choices,” argues Rachelle Bross, Ph.D RDN, nutrition core director for UCLA’s Lindquist Institute for Biomedical Research. “But they don’t necessarily capture how individual foods fit into the broader context of meals or long-term health goals. They also don’t respect the personal preferences that make healthy eating patterns sustainable.”

Curiously, despite the widespread availability of nonfat and low-fat dairy products, Americans keep getting fatter. One possible explanation is that people who consume full-fat dairy products are satisfied with smaller amounts. Another theory is that nonfat and low-fat dairy users may reward their “good” choices by indulging in other high-calorie foods. As a persistent dieter in my teen years, I understand this seesaw behavior.

Humans have transformed perishable milk into nourishing cheese for millennia, likely since Neolithic times. Cheese and whole-milk yogurt have sustained people for centuries, from Athens to Agra. If these foods were truly not good for us, wouldn’t they have raised alarms long ago?

My own theory is that American eat too much processed and commodity cheese—on fast-food pizza, burgers, burritos and tacos—and we aren’t physically active enough. Enjoying a two-ounce nugget of Vermont Cheddar with your salad at lunch, or a cup of unsweetened whole-milk yogurt with fruit at breakfast, is healthy behavior, and it’s frustrating to see the FDA imply otherwise.

Because the revised rule won’t be enforced until February 25, 2028, dairy advocacy groups are urging the FDA to reopen the rule for comment. I’ve shared my perspective here. What would you tell the FDA?