Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday unveiled new dietary guidelines including an inverted food pyramid with a focus on fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy and healthy fats and less of an emphasis on whole grains.
The conspiracy-pushing health secretary, while flanked by other Trump administration officials at the White House, remarked on the “upside down” look of the new food pyramid as it appeared on a screen behind him.
The new food pyramid is the first from the U.S. Department of Agriculture since the original model was updated to “MyPyramid” in 2005 and later replaced by “MyPlate,” which featured roughly half a plate of fruits and vegetables, another half a plate of grains and protein, and a serving of dairy.
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition expert at Stanford University, told NPR that he was “very disappointed” that the new model features red meat and saturated fat sources “at the very top, as if that’s something to prioritize.”
“It does go against decades and decades of evidence and research,” he said.
Health experts, including the American Heart Association, have advised against excess consumption of saturated fats due to a link to an increased risk of heart disease.
On Wednesday, Kennedy declared that the Trump administration was “ending the war on saturated fats,” although the new guidelines continue the long-standing recommendation that people limit their intake of saturated fat to 10% of their daily calories.
Critics on social media mocked RFK Jr. and friends over the flipped food pyramid, with one Bluesky user quoting a line by Dee from “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.”
Another user simply wrote that it’s “not a structurally sound pyramid.”
Check out more reactions below.
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