Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced legislation on Friday that would scrap the Biden administration’s anti-science dietary guidelines and restore guidance based on “real science.”
“The Biden administration’s dietary guidelines were a woke, anti-American scam. My bill will put an end to this left-wing nonsense, restore transparency and accountability to the process, and make sure our dietary guidelines are based on real science, not bureaucratic activism,” Jackson said in a written statement to Breitbart News.
Jackson introduced the Dietary Guidelines Reform Act of 2025 alongside Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who introduced the Senate companion version of the bill.
The legislation aims to scrap the Biden administration’s protein recommendations and promotion of beans and lentils and other plant-based proteins over meat-based options.
The bill would also:
- Expand the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) report from every five to ten years, unless an evidence-based breakthrough warrants an update
- Subject the DGA process to federal rulemaking to ensure input from stakeholders
- Prevent the inclusion of extraneous topics such as tax, Social Security, federal food assistance, food labeling, socioeconomic status, race, religion, ethnicity, and culture
- Require members of the DGA Committee to disclose all relevant financial and nonfinancial conflicts of interest
- Require the development of dietary guidelines to be based on evidence-based nutrition science
- Design dietary guidelines to improve long-term health outcomes
Health expert Nina Teicholz wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal about how, despite protein being foundational for childhood growth, American children often do not meet the basic requirements:
Protein is foundational for childhood growth, brain development and immune function. Yet according to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data in 2015-16, nearly 15% of American children 9 to 14 and 30% of teens 15 to 19 didn’t meet the government’s median minimum protein standard.As people age, their muscles become less responsive to protein, making it harder to build muscle mass, avoid osteoporosis and fight illness. But there are no separate protein guidelines for older adults, many of whom don’t even clear the current bar. A 2019 study of nearly 12,000 adults age 51 and older found that nearly half of those over 70 weren’t meeting recommended daily protein levels.
Teicholz noted that plant-based proteins often lack at least one of the nine essential amino acids that comprise a “complete protein.”
Teicholz called on the National Academy of Medicine to increase its recommended intake of protein from 0.8 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to 1.2 to 1.6 grams, citing studies that found it a “better range for weight loss, muscle maintenance, recovery from illness, and overall well-being, especially for children and older adults.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in mid-March said that their departments are doing a line-by-line review of the DGA report issued by the Biden administration.
Rollins said, “Secretary Kennedy and I have a powerful, complementary role in this, and it starts with updating federal dietary guidance. We will make certain the 2025-2030 Guidelines are based on sound science, not political science. Gone are the days where leftist ideologies guide public policy.”
“We are going to make sure the dietary guidelines will reflect the public interest and serve public health, rather than special interests,” Kennedy said in a written statement. “This is a giant step in making America the healthiest country in the world.”
Sen. Marshall said in a statement to Breitbart News, “Despite decades of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, our citizens have only become sicker and more obese, while taxpayer dollars continue to fund this chaotic and broken process. The Dietary Guidelines Reform Act brings much-needed transparency and scientific integrity to the dietary guidelines process, restores public trust, and aims for healthier outcomes by ensuring the recommendations truly serve the American people.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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