The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organisation that promotes plant-based approaches to healthcare and nutrition, has filed a lawsuit against the US federal government over its 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The guidelines drew mixed reactions from across the food industry when they were published on 7 January this year, framed as a significant overhaul of dietary advice and featuring a strong emphasis on minimally processed foods and protein – including animal-sourced varieties including red meat, whole-fat dairy and eggs.

The lawsuit, filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia on 19 August, alleges that a ‘secret panel of food industry insiders’ selected by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ‘illegally influenced’ the recommendations in the guidelines.

The Physicians Committee’s president, Neal D Barnard, claims that the guidelines were “ghost written” by consultants with financial ties to the meat, dairy and low-carb diet industries.

The Dietary Guidelines are issued every five years by HHS and USDA, following a Federal Advisory Committee Act in establishing a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) to write a scientific report that serves as their foundation.

In its lawsuit, the Physicians Committee accuses HHS and USDA of ‘disregarding’ federal law through a ‘procedural bait and switch,’ replacing earlier recommendations of the DGAC – which, it pointed out, included prioritising more plant-based meals, plant proteins, and water rather than milk – with recommendations it says were ‘hastily assembled’ without oversight or input from the public.

According to the complaint, eight of the nine members of the ‘secret panel’ had conflicts of interest, including ties to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Dairy Council, the American Egg Board and the National Pork Board.

The complaint argues that the Guidelines ‘pose dangers’ to children, whose school food programmes must adhere to them; as well as to individuals with medical conditions and those at risk of diet-related diseases, who may consume more ‘fatty, high-cholesterol products of industries with which the authors are affiliated’.

The panel took ‘only three months to produce its 90 page report and 418 page appendix,’ the lawsuit adds. It asks the court to order HHS and USDA to withdraw the guidelines and prohibit their use in any future agency decisions while the agencies develop new Dietary

Guidelines in compliance with the FACA.

The Dietary Guidelines call on US consumers to ‘eat more real food,’ attributing the rise in chronic disease across America to diets that have become ‘highly reliant’ on highly processed packaged foods, paired with sedentary lifestyles.

Led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Secretary of the US HHS, the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Commission is aiming to realign the nation’s food system to support farmers, ranchers and companies who grow and produce what it calls ‘real food’ – whole foods that are minimally processed, which include vegetables and whole grains as well as animal proteins.

FoodBev Media has approached HHS and USDA for comment. HHS declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. At the time of publication, USDA had not yet responded to request for comment.