{"id":412153,"date":"2026-01-14T11:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/412153\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:03:17","slug":"us-health-secretary-robert-f-kennedys-new-food-pyramid-is-all-sizzle-and-no-steak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/412153\/","title":{"rendered":"US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s new food pyramid is all sizzle and no steak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

\"SarahSarah Berry<\/a>Lifestyle Health Editor<\/p>\n

January 12, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n

January 12, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n

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The message of the new American dietary guidelines is simple: eat real food.<\/p>\n

Revolutionary, if you forget Michael Pollan\u2019s famed line from 2007<\/a> to \u201cEat food. Not too much. Mostly plants\u201d. Or Michelle Obama\u2019s invocation in 2009<\/a> to swap oversweetened, oversalted foods for fresh, nutritious foods.<\/p>\n

\"SteakSteak is on the menu for RFK\u2019s new Food Pyramid.Oscar Colman<\/p>\n

What about the current Australian guidelines<\/a> or the previous dietary guidelines<\/a> for Americans?<\/p>\n

\u201cDietary guidelines in Australia and internationally have always recommended that people consume whole foods \u2013 this is not new,\u201d says Associate Professor Evangeline Mantzioris, who is on the working committee for the 2026 Australian guidelines to be released later this year.<\/p>\n

So why, if the message is so simple (and unoriginal), have the guidelines caused such a stir?<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Resistance<\/a><\/p>\n

They contain a \u201cstrange mixture\u201d of good and bad advice, says public health nutritionist Rosemary Stanton. We\u2019ll get into that. But, not before mentioning the weird press release<\/a> from Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s (aka RFK\u2019s) Health and Human Services announcing the guidelines.<\/p>\n

It states that \u201ctoo many Americans are sick and don\u2019t know why. That is because their government has been unwilling to tell them the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conspiratorial tone aside, it is true that too many people are sick and overweight from the foods they eat. Roughly 74 per cent of Americans<\/a> and about 66 per cent of Australians<\/a> are overweight or obese. In Australia alone the economic cost of this is estimated to reach about $62 billion by 2030<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, to suggest these rates have anything to do with the dietary guidelines is odd.<\/p>\n

Less than 10 per cent<\/a> of Americans follow their guidelines and, in Australia, less than 7 per cent<\/a> follow ours.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s this statement from RFK\u2019s press release: \u201cFor decades, the Dietary Guidelines favoured corporate interests over common sense, science-driven advice to improve the health of Americans. That ends today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except it doesn\u2019t really end today. They have just swapped the influence of the processed foods industry for the influence of the meat and dairy industries.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of the reviewers had financial or other ties<\/a> to the beef, dairy or pork industries. Surprise, surprise, the New Pyramid<\/a> (as they\u2019ve called it) prioritises meat, dairy and \u201chealthy\u201d fats such as beef tallow and butter.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe New Pyramid.NYT<\/p>\n

And in \u201ca win for big alcohol<\/a>\u201d, the guidelines remove the limits on drinking alcohol and the warning that it increases the risk of cancer.<\/p>\n

But credit where credit is due.<\/p>\n

Encouraging whole foods is always positive, as is the advice to avoid \u201chighly processed packaged, prepared, ready-to-eat, or other foods that are salty or sweet\u201d and \u201cavoid sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, fruit drinks, and energy drinks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another positive is the \u201cexcellent\u201d and easy to understand information on infants and early childhood, says Stanton.<\/p>\n

That includes spelling out the need to cut added sugar \u2013 and explaining that doesn\u2019t include the naturally occurring sugar in fruit and milk. It also emphasises the need to introduce allergens such as peanuts, wheat, eggs and shellfish early in children\u2019s diets to reduce the risk of developing allergies.<\/p>\n

Suggesting that children up to the age of 10 avoid all added sugar, however, is a bit of a reality stretch.<\/p>\n

But the real controversy lies in the New Pyramid.<\/p>\n

In a news briefing last week, RFK said the food pyramid (which hasn\u2019t been used in the US since 2011 or in Australia since 2013) \u201cwas upside down before, and we just righted it\u201d.<\/p>\n

The New Pyramid puts protein, in the form of meat and full-fat dairy, at the top alongside fruit, vegetables and \u201chealthy\u201d fats including butter and beef tallow. At the bottom are fibre-rich whole grains, which are a critical component of a healthy microbiome.<\/p>\n

Pollan pointed out in an interview with The San Francisco Standard: \u201cOne of the most important developments in nutrition science has been the recognition of the microbiome \u2026 and it needs fibre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Protein<\/a><\/p>\n

He added that the New Pyramid was a throwback to the way people ate in the \u201950s and \u201960s: \u201cWe ate lots of meat and full-fat milk and had lots of heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is without even considering the vast impacts on the environment of consuming more meat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for eating more protein, our body uses protein to repair itself from the micro tears caused during resistance training, but less than 30 per cent<\/a> of Americans and Australians<\/a> do the recommended resistance training twice a week. And most Australians and Americans already eat enough protein.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body can\u2019t store protein, so once actual needs are met, any extra protein is used for energy or stored as fat,\u201d Stanton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new food pyramid is simply bananas,\u201d Michael Greger, a physician and founder of NutritionFacts.org, told The New York Times. \u201cIf nutrition guidelines were medicine, this would be malpractice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malpractice, maybe. At the very least, all RFK\u2019s back-patting over the new guidelines is all sizzle and no steak.<\/p>\n

Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.<\/p>\n

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n

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\"SarahSarah Berry<\/a> is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via Twitter<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners