"It labels various food items as good and bad. It concludes, without any scientific evidence, that bad food is the main cause of chronic diseases. This arbitrary conclusion, apart from its shaky scientific foundation, is indeed prejudicial," the countries said.
They urged the Food and Agriculture Organization to seek the opinion of member nations on the report and not to take any further action until responses are in.
The group also said it was not convinced by an analysis by the UN agency of how the obesity plan would affect agriculture and food processing.
A particularly contentious recommendation advises that people keep their sugar intake to less than 10 percent of calories. This has sparked concerns that such advice might harm sugar producers and the food industry.
The Food and Agriculture Organization concluded that may not necessarily be so, overall.
If all of the 93 countries where sugar intake accounts for more than 10 percent of daily calories were to meet the target, the reduction in world consumption of sugar would be about 15 percent, it calculated.
"On the other hand, if all 85 countries where consumption is below the 10 percent mark were to increase consumption, the implied increase would more than compensate for the reduction in the `above 10 percent' countries," it said.
The Food and Agriculture Organization also noted that the dietary recommendations could be a bonanza for fruit and vegetable production, particularly in developing countries that can switch from sugar crops. The global plan advises that countries aim to get their people eating at least 400g a day.
Outside the meeting, Don Mitchell, an economist at the World Bank, said the increase in fruit and vegetable production could swamp any loss in sugar production.
With a note of reassurance for the agriculture industry, the Food and Agriculture Organization said that any major immediate response to the recommendations is unlikely on a global scale.
"The evidence to date indicates that -- apart from the experience of food safety scares -- dietary recommendations made in the past to reduce intake of sugar and fat, for example, have had only a limited impact on consumption," it said.



