Technical Abstract: Dietary intake data was collected on 1266 adults who participated in a cross-sectional survey. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to examine the mean nutrient intake differences among 4 dairy consumption groups. Forty-eight percent of adults consumed one serving or less of dairy products, 32% consumed 2 servings, 12% consumed 3 servings and 8% consumed 4 or more servings. More females (51%) (p < 0.01) than males (44%), and more blacks (55%) (p<0.05) than whites (46%) consumed one serving or less of dairy products. Intakes of total energy, saturated fat, total protein, animal protein and lactose (p<0.0001), were higher with increasing number of dairy servings consumed. The percentage of energy from saturated fat (p<0.0001) and protein (p<0.001) increased with increasing number of dairy servings consumed There was lower consumption of sweetened beverages (p<0.001), specifically regular soft drinks (p<0.0001), with greater consumption of milk products. Dairy product consumption by adults has a major impact on their vitamin and mineral intakes. The higher intakes of saturated fat, total energy, and animal protein and lower intake of fiber suggest that it may be useful to consume lower fat dairy products and/or modify eating patterns to optimize the nutritional contributions of dairy products.