Soon after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the nation’s health secretary, he promised to overhaul the federal nutrition guidelines. A key step, he said, would be to “toss out the people who were writing the guidelines with conflicts of interest.”
His own panel, he said, would “have no conflicts of interest.” But the new guidelines, which were released [on January 7, 2025] and emphasize protein, meat, cheese and milk, were informed by a panel of experts with several ties to the meat and dairy industries.
Three of the nine members have received grants or done consulting work for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association … At least three members — including two of the same ones who have done work for red meat groups — have financial ties to dairy industry organizations, such as the National Dairy Council. Another is a co-creator of a high-protein meal replacement product. The experts did not write the guidelines, but produced reviews of scientific evidence on which the guidelines were based.





















