New Meat-Heavy Dietary Guidelines on Increasingly Shaky Ground

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans face an increasingly uncertain future. Today, Nov. 9, the American Medical Association is the latest organization calling for Guidelines free of “industry-related conflicts of interest.” On Aug. 19, 2026, the Physicians Committee filed a federal lawsuit for the withdrawal of the Guidelines, citing conflicts of interest among eight of the nine authors of the controversial Guidelines.

Calley Means, an architect of the Trump Administration’s Guidelines, resigned on Oct. 22, citing frustration with policy inaction.

The new American Medical Association policy calls for “strengthened transparency, disclosure, and management of financial and non-financial conflicts of interest in the development of federal dietary guidelines and related scientific reports, including clear public reporting and exclusion of individuals with significant financial or industry-related conflicts of interest from decision-making roles.”

“Doctors don’t want industry-influenced Dietary Guidelines that are going harm to their patients,” said Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “We need evidence-based Guidelines that are free of meat and dairy industry meddling.”

The Guidelines, which were released on Jan. 7, 2026, promote increased intake of protein and saturated fat, contradicting scientific evidence showing that Americans already consume excess protein and that saturated fat drives up cholesterol levels.

The Physicians Committee’s lawsuit argues that the Guidelines violate the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which mandates that an advisory committee “will not be inappropriately influenced by the appointing authority or any special interest.” Eight of the nine members of the advisory committee who wrote the report used to develop the Guidelines had conflicts of interest, including ties to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Dairy Council, the American Egg Board, the National Pork Board, and the low-carbohydrate diet industry. This report replaced a previous unbiased scientific report released in 2025 that recommend more plant-based meals and reducing animal products.

“The meat-heavy Dietary Guidelines are circling the drain,” said Dr. Barnard. “They need to be replaced with healthful Guidelines promoting vegetables, fruits, and a nutritious plant-based diet.”