It is unclear what Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first priority will be if he is confirmed as the next Health and Human Services Secretary, but food and nutrition experts believe Kennedy might make adjustments on a variety of fronts when it comes to healthy eating. These potential reforms may include redesigning school lunch programs, adopting new standards for seed oils and ultra-processed foods, limiting pollutants, and more.
Kennedy, who wants to “Make America Healthy Again,” has been an ardent supporter of food industry changes, and President-elect Donald Trump has stated that if confirmed, he will be free to “go wild on health”
One important opportunity for Kennedy would be to oversee a rewrite of the federal government’s “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” which is one of the most potent instruments for changing public image of what is healthy. The standards must be reviewed every five years, and the next modification is due in 2025. If approved, Kennedy would be in responsible of hiring the experts who will create the guidelines.
“I know that they really want to focus on kids,” Nina Teicholz, nutrition expert and head of The Nutrition Coalition, told HeadlinesForever Digital.
Teicholz, who has been in talks with Kennedy’s team about the new national dietary guidelines, suggested that he might use them to make changes to school lunches, such as limiting sugar, which Teicholz said there is currently none of, and reintroducing whole milk to school cafeterias, which was banned under the Obama administration.
Teicholz believes that introducing whole milk into school cafeterias could reduce the frequency with which youngsters drink high-sugar, flavored milk beverages. She also stated that the current guideline to keep whole milk out of schools is “based on the saturated fat content in milk, but there’s really no good evidence to show that saturated fats have any negative effect on children.”
“I think that Kennedy has aimed to stand for evidence-based changes to policy,” Teicholz told the crowd. “So, that means not making policy based on weak science.”
Teicholz suggested that, in addition to school lunches, Kennedy may pursue additional “low-hanging fruit” related to the standards.
Kennedy suggested that the rules may be used to reduce the definition of ultra-processed foods, a section of the food industry she has previously criticized. Teicholz also stated that research on “ultra-processed foods” is limited, and consequently, Kennedy may request new studies on such foods as well.
Dave Asprey, an author and nutrition advocate who has written three New York Times best-selling books about healthier eating, believes Kennedy will also include toxic limits in the new dietary rules, targeting pesticides and herbicides that have come under fire. He also stated that he would not be surprised if Kennedy and his colleagues implemented new rules for animal feed.
Asprey noted that Kennedy’s trial lawyer background may help him greatly in launching legal procedures if he chose to pursue corporations who “are continuing to push outdated, unhealthy guidelines.”
“Where can he have a genuine impact? The dietary standards are important because they influence how we feed our children, what we do in hospitals, and much of our public policy,” Asprey explained.
Kennedy has recently been courting support for his nomination on Capitol Hill, and according to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Kennedy informed him that he would be cautious and light-handed when attempting to regulate the food and agriculture industries.
However, according to Mara Fleishman, CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes healthy eating, the Trump administration’s aim for a more limited-government approach to governance may conflict with Kennedy’s efforts to reform the food business.
“I think time will tell what – if anything – RFK Jr. can, or will, do,” Fleishman told reporters.