How can RFK affect the way we eat? The experts intervene.

It’s unclear what Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first day priorities will be. if confirmed to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services, but diet and nutrition experts suggest that Kennedy could effect changes on several fronts when he arrives. to a healthy diet. These potential reforms could include overhauling school lunch programs, setting new standards for seed oils and ultra-processed foods, setting limits on toxins, and more.

Kennedy, who wants to “Make America Healthy Again,” has been a strong advocate for reforms to the food industry and President-elect Donald Trump has said he will be allowed to “go astray with health care” if confirmed.

A major opening for Kennedy would be to oversee an overhaul of the federal government’s “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” one of the most powerful tools in shaping public perception of what’s healthy. The guidelines must be reviewed every five years, and the deadline for the next update is in 2025. Kennedy, if confirmed, would ultimately be in charge of hiring the experts who write the guidelines.

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“I know they really want to focus on kids,” Nina Teicholz, nutrition expert and founder of The Nutrition Coalition, told Fox News Digital.

Teicholz, who has been in discussions with Kennedy’s team about the new national dietary guidelines, suggested he could use them to implement changes to school lunches, such as adding a sugar limit, for which Teicholz said there is currently none, and bringing whole milk back into school cafeterias, which was banned under the Obama administration.

Adding whole milk to school cafeterias could limit how often children consume flavored, high-sugar milk drinks, Teicholz said. He also noted that current recommendations keeping whole milk out of schools “are based on the saturated fat content of milk, but there’s really no good evidence that saturated fat has any negative effects on children.” .

“I think Kennedy has wanted to advocate for evidence-based policy changes,” Teicholz said. “That means not making policies based on weak science.”

Teicholz added that in addition to school lunches, there is another “low-hanging fruit” associated with the guidelines that Kennedy could follow.

Kennedy could use the guidelines to narrow the definition of ultra-processed foods, he noted, which is a sector of the food industry that Kennedy has previously been critical of. Teicholz also said research on “ultra-processed foods” is scarce, and so Kennedy could be seen to commission more studies on those foods as well.

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Dave Asprey, an author and nutrition advocate who has written several New York Times best-selling books on healthier eating, said he believes Kennedy is also likely to add limits on toxins within the new dietary guidelines, aimed at pesticides and herbicides that have been affected. scrutiny He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Kennedy and his team implemented new animal feed standards.

Asprey added that Kennedy’s experience as a trial lawyer could greatly assist him in bringing legal proceedings if he wanted to go after companies that “continue to push outdated and unhealthy guidelines.”

“Where can it really affect real change? The dietary guidelines, because they control how we feed our children, what we do in hospitals and much of our public policy,” Asprey said.

Kennedy has recently been courting support for his nomination on Capitol Hill, and according to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Kennedy, Kennedy told him that I would exercise restraint and use a light touch when seeking to regulate the food and agricultural industries.

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But according to Mara Fleishman, CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, a health food nonprofit, the Trump administration’s desire for a more limited government approach to government could clash with Kennedy’s efforts to reform the food industry.

“I think time will tell what, if anything, RFK Jr. can, or will do,” Fleishman said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Kennedy’s representatives, but did not hear back.