US dietary guidelines to be published by August

USA | The federal government revises the dietary guidelines every five years, and the previous administration began that process in 2024. In December, the Biden administration released the scientific report that was to undergird the guidelines. But Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has since promised to start from scratch and remake the recommendations to match his convictions about how Americans should be eating.

He told Congress that the new dietary guidelines could be released “before August”, teasing big changes. The current version of the document is 149 pages. The forthcoming update, he promised, will have just four or five pages in plain English, which will tell people to “eat whole food; eat the food that’s good for you.”

The public has mainly ignored dietary guidelines in the past. But the recommendations touch the diets of tens of millions of Americans, affecting what food is served in schools and in the military. They also influence the food industry. After the dietary guidelines began more explicitly warning about the risks of added sugar, major food companies committed to reducing added sugar in their products.

Nothing but rumours yet

The Trump administration hopes that the new guidelines will impact meals served in the upcoming school year, starting later this summer. However, it is already late for many school districts to adjust items they purchase.

Little is known about the new recommendations. Rumours suggest they could address saturated fat, found mainly in meat and certain oils, and ultra-processed food.

Recommendations on drinking alcohol are not slated to change dramatically. Some insiders told Reuters news agency that the government might drop the recommendation that adults limit alcohol intake to one or two drinks per day. That is because there is scant scientific evidence to support precise daily limits. Also, the aim of the update is to reflect only the most robust available science.

But with this government you never know and the guidelines could still change before publication.

Per Reuters, Diageo and AB-InBev were among the alcohol producers lobbying lawmakers throughout the review process. Senate records show both firms spent millions of dollars on lobbying in 2024 and 2025, covering the guidelines as well as tax and trade issues.