Overview
- Kennedy promoted new inverted dietary guidelines that emphasize animal protein, dairy, produce and fewer processed foods, noting the written advice still caps saturated fat at under 10% of calories.
- About 300 people attended inside the Capitol Rotunda with roughly 30 Republican lawmakers and Treasurer Stacy Garrity on stage, while roughly two dozen protesters rallied outside.
- He linked the guidance to program changes for SNAP, WIC and school meals, proposing that retailers accepting food stamps double their sales of “real food,” as whole milk returns to school cafeterias under a new law.
- Criticism centered on vaccine policy after HHS under Kennedy reduced recommended shots from 18 to 11 and altered newborn Hepatitis B guidance, drawing rebukes from Gov. Josh Shapiro and physicians who warn of outbreak risks.
- Kennedy largely sidestepped vaccines in his speech, later saying states may follow their own schedules and that vaccination access remains, before taking the tour to farm visits and a rural health discussion in Lancaster County.