RFK Jr’s New Food Pyramid Is Industry-Approved

The report behind Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s updated dietary guidelines didn’t eliminate food and pharmaceutical industry influence over Health and Human Services decisions. It did the exact opposite.

White House Holds News Conference

The Trump administration’s updated dietary guidelines are adulterated with corporate conflicts and questionable science. (Will Oliver / EPA / Bloomberg via Getty Images)


Last Spring, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr summarily dismissed the expert-advised study intended to inform changes to the nation’s nutritional guidelines, claiming it was dominated by scientists with ties to the food and pharmaceutical industries.

He then commissioned a new report justifying the new dietary guidelines released last week. The report’s nine scientific reviewers included six with financial ties to food companies and the beef and milk industries’ trade groups. The updated guidelines put high-protein diets based on meat and milk atop the food pyramid, despite Americans already overconsuming those protein sources based on previous guidelines.

The ninety-page report, titled “The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” listed Christopher Ramsden from the National Institute on Aging as its primary author. According to the report, Ramsden received “input and revisions” from unnamed persons at the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture.

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