RFK Jr.'s new dietary guidelines could be controversial. Here's what to watch for

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New dietary guidelines are due out this fall and, based on public comments by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., they could amount to a radical departure from what Americans have seen in years past.

The Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture – the two agencies that issue the guidelines – update them every five years to reflect the latest research findings.

Typically, they follow many of the recommendations of a scientific advisory committee that spends about two years reviewing the evidence and compiling a dense scientific report.

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The advice in the 2025 scientific report hasn't changed much from previous years. It emphasizes consuming fruits and vegetables, lean meat, legumes and whole grains, and avoiding too much saturated fat, added sugar and refined carbs.

But Kennedy has strong views about food and has made no secret of his disdain for the existing guidelines.

In public appearances, he has disparaged the process for developing them and seems to conflate the 2025 scientific report with the actual guidelines, calling the document "incomprehensible" and "Biden guidelines." (In reality the most recent guidelines were issued in 2020 during President Trump's first term.)

And Kennedy has pledged the upcoming ones will be a mere four to six pages, with a focus on "whole foods, healthy foods and local foods."

If he follows through on this promise, it will cause "substantial chaos," says Kevin Klatt, a nutrition research scientist at UC Berkeley.

Many people still think of the dietary guidelines as synonymous with the food pyramid, which was phased out more than a decade ago in favor of a new graphic called "MyPlate." In reality they function primarily as a policy document.

They contain specific terminology and targets for calories and nutrients that guide federal food aid for mothers and infants, free school lunches, and what's served in milita