The discussion initiated in a scientific program session during the 2008 IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo® and some possible industry ramifications of the nutritional debate is presented. The session included presentations by David Klurfeld, a Human Nutrition National Program Leader, US Dept. of Agriculture, on the topic 'Explaining the Public Policy Issues Debate on Dietary Fats'. Gary Taubes presented issues on 'Paadigms of Fat: What is Lost by Consuming a Low-Fat Diet'. Klurfeld reviewed many of the observational studies and randomized trials that often are called upon to support the low-fat diet. He emphasized that not all scientific experts agree in the interpretation of the studies related to the human disease because of the dietary fat. Taubes reviewed the history of the treatment of obesity and observed that the consensus view prior to the 1970s was that sugar and starch were the dietary causes of human obesity.