In remarks at a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policy celebration Jan. 8, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused major health organizations of promoting nutrition advice shaped by corporate interests and touted the administration’s newly released dietary guidelines as a break from decades of federal policy.

Speaking one day after HHS unveiled the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030, Kennedy argued that long-standing federal warnings against saturated fat reflected conflicts of interest rather than settled science.

He singled out the American Heart Association, saying it “was and continues to accept millions of dollars from the biggest processed food makers in this country,” while advancing dietary guidance that “vilified and demonized good food.”

“It’s important that the American people know that sometimes they’re getting medical advice from people who have an economic stake in that advice,” Kennedy said.

The comments framed Kennedy’s broader defense of the new nutrition advice, which inverts the traditional food pyramid, elevates protein and healthy fats, prioritizes whole grains over refined carbohydrates, and explicitly warns against ultra-processed foods and added sugars, as CatholicVote previously reported.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and other health officials joined Kennedy at the event. 

During his address, Kennedy described the guidelines as replacing decades of “corporate-driven assumptions” in federal nutrition policy with what he called “common sense” and scientific integrity. 

He argued that federal subsidies and guidance had for years favored highly processed foods and refined carbohydrates, contributing to a surge in chronic disease.

“Our government has been lying to us to protect corporate profit taking, telling us that these food-like substances were beneficial to our health,” Kennedy said, later adding, “Today, the lies stop.”

Framing the shift as both scientific and civic, Kennedy urged Americans to question long-standing orthodoxies and take responsibility for their health.

“Science is internal skepticism towards all orthodoxies, understanding people in authority lie, and that there’s all kinds of conflicts of interest that drive the creation of orthodoxies and dogmas around bad ideas,” he said. “And in a democracy, we have a responsibility to become CEOs of our own health — to take charge of it.”

Kennedy tied the policy overhaul to what he described as a national health emergency. He said data shows the U.S. has the highest obesity and Type 2 diabetes rates in the developed world, spends three times more per capita than the European Union on health care, and yet has a life expectancy that is roughly five years shorter. One-third of U.S. teens are diabetic or prediabetic, he noted, while childhood obesity rates far exceed those in countries such as France.

“If a foreign adversary sought to destroy the health of our children, cripple our economy, [and] weaken our national security,” Kennedy said, “there would be no better strategy than addicting our nation to ultra-processed foods.”

Kennedy also linked diet-related disease to federal spending, saying roughly half of U.S. tax dollars now go to health care and about 90% of those costs stem from chronic disease. Reducing obesity and diabetes to levels seen in countries such as Japan, he said, could save an estimated $600 billion annually.

“Eat real food,” Kennedy said, offering a summary of the message. “If it doesn’t come from the ground, with water or the air, don’t eat it. Nothing matters more for health outcomes, economic productivity, military readiness, and fiscal stability.”

He said the changes will affect dozens of federal feeding programs, including roughly 45 million school lunches served daily, meals for 1.3 million active-duty service members, and food provided to about 9 million patients in Veterans Affairs hospitals.

Rollins said the Agriculture Department will move quickly to expand access to healthier foods for low-income Americans by doubling the “stocking standard” for retailers that accept SNAP benefits. The change would apply to roughly 250,000 retailers nationwide and require them to carry significantly more healthy food options, with implementation expected to begin almost immediately, she added.

Looking ahead, Kennedy said HHS will prioritize new nutrition research through the National Institutes of Health and coordinate with the FDA and other agencies to align federal food policy with the updated guidance.