Doctors Group Petitions HHS, USDA to Withdraw Dietary Guidelines Over Unlawful Industry Influence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines should be withdrawn and reissued due to rampant industry influence, including by the meat and dairy industries, says the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in a petition filed Jan. 8 with the Offices of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Eight of the nine authors of the scientific report underlying the new Guidelines have received research funding or other compensation from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Texas Beef Council, General Mills, the National Dairy Council, and the National Pork Board, among others. The complaint alleges that in allowing this to happen, the USDA and HHS disregarded the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which mandates that the Guidelines “will not be inappropriately influenced by the appointing authority or any special interest.”

“The ‘cholesterol cartel’ has insidiously manipulated federal diet guidelines, and needs to be thrown out,” says Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “Industry’s pernicious promotion of beef, pork, milk, and cheese is the reason so many Americans are sick today.”

Meat and dairy products are significant sources of saturated fat, which the new Guidelines say should be limited to no more than 10% of calories. Yet the Guidelines urge Americans to prioritize meat and dairy products in their diets. Recent research in the Annals of Internal Medicine has reaffirmed that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, putting individuals at higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

“Industry meddling in the Guidelines is not new, and the Physicians Committee has fought against it for decades,” says Dr. Barnard.

Prior to the issuance of the 2000 Guidelines, the Physicians Committee sued under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Freedom of Information Act, arguing that six of the 11 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee members had financial ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries and that these financial ties might increase the likelihood that unhealthy foods would remain in the Guidelines. A federal court agreed that the government had violated both laws. The Physicians Committee also challenged improprieties in the 2010, 2015, and 2020 Guidelines in federal court.

“The Guidelines need to be rewritten by unbiased authors referencing the latest nutrition research that will actually help keep Americans healthy and fight diabetes, heart disease, and obesity,” says Dr. Barnard.