Lawsuit Challenges Revisions to Dietary Guidelines by Trump Administration

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit advocating for plant-based diets, claims that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assembled a “secret panel” of scientists, influenced by the beef and dairy industries, to alter the food pyramid. The suit further alleges that these actions violated federal law governing advisory committee operations.

According to the lawsuit, many of the researchers selected by the Trump administration to inform the new guidelines had financial connections to industries such as beef, dairy, and eggs. They were appointed covertly and given a tight timeframe of less than three months to complete their evidence review, which influenced the new dietary recommendations and occasionally depended on industry-funded research.

Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, stated, “The government allowed the meat and dairy industries to ghostwrite the Dietary Guidelines. They put money in industry’s pocket and cholesterol in Americans’ arteries.”

The lawsuit seeks a court order to rescind the current guidelines and initiate a new process that aligns with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

HHS and USDA collaborated last year on an update to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which resulted in controversial changes, such as endorsing saturated fats, reducing recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, removing daily alcohol limits, and promoting fad diets. These alterations perplexed many nutrition experts, particularly the emphasis on high-saturated-fat foods like beef and whole dairy products, even in the context of suggestions to limit saturated fat intake.

Notably, the new guidelines contradicted the recommendations of a 20-person scientific panel that had spent nearly two years reviewing contemporary nutrition science and advocating for plant-based diets, suggesting a reduction in red meat and saturated fat consumption. Some members of this panel had conflicts of interest, as noted by the advocacy group U.S. Right to Know.

The lawsuit contends that the government acted unlawfully by dismissing the earlier committee's findings, which had been established under President Biden and complied with FACA norms. The secondary scientific advisory group formed during the Trump administration was largely unknown to the public until a foundational document was uploaded to a government website on January 7, coinciding with the release of the new guidelines.