Approach RFK Jr.’s New Diet Guidelines Skeptically, Defend Public Health Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The federal government’s new diet guidelines, released after months of unfounded political criticisms of earlier versions from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, must be approached with caution and a degree of skepticism, health experts with Defend Public Health said today.

The new guidelines repeat a number of scientifically unfounded claims, particularly with regard to saturated fats and dairy products. DPH’s new report, Dispelling Trump Administration Disinformation About the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, looks at the sorts of claims Kennedy has made and addresses administration misstatements about the guidelines and the process by which they have been developed in the past.

“They have quite literally flipped the food guide pyramid upside down, recommending lower consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains than in prior guidance, and encouraging people to eat more fats overall, including high-fat dairy and red meat. They’ve provided no scientific evidence to support these changes, which contradict the report provided by expert scientists to guide the recommendations last year,” said DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist and University of Arizona Professor Emerita. She added, “The implications that butter and beef tallow are ‘healthy fats’ don’t have scientific support and are simply figments of RFK Jr. 's imagination.”

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Defend Public Health is a volunteer-driven network of public health researchers, healthcare workers, advocates and allies fighting to protect the health of all from the Trump administration's cruel attacks on proven, science-based public health policies. We believe that everyone has the right to what they need for a healthy life, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.
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