CSPI criticizes Trump administration for misleading MAHA nutrition claims

The US Center for Public Interest (CSPI) has deemed the Trump administration’s attempt to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) to be misleading, claiming it is not based on science for a healthy diet, but may be rather harmful for consumers and increases the risk of diet-related chronic disease. 

A statement from the organization contends that MAHA uses “misguided” and “downright cruel” policies. CSPI points to the federal initiative’s recommendations of consuming full-fat dairy, red meat, and beef tallow, which disregard science-backed nutrition recommendations.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration also fired 20,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services at the beginning of 2025. CSPI says the US will never be healthy as long as the White House and federal agencies continue to undermine scientific facts. 

Nutrition Insight sits down with Anupama Joshi, vice president of programs at CSPI, to discuss how the MAHA guidelines may be harmful for health, and what suggestions the organization is making for nutritional guidance. 

Joshi provides some examples of how the administration’s policies are making people hungrier and sicker, not healthier, starting with rising food insecurity and hunger. 

“The US$186 billion cut over 10 years, and the administrative changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) called for in President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR1), are resulting in hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people losing their benefits,” she says. 

“Rising food costs and dwindling food assistance are recipes for poorer health. For example, in Arizona, more than 400,000 people have lost their SNAP benefits since July — the largest decline in the nation by a wide margin. The drop represents nearly 47% of the state’s participants in the program and includes about 180,000 children, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers the program.”

She stresses Arizona is just the start, and similar drops in several other states are to be expected in the coming months.

Additionally, the Trump administration is also ignoring vaccine science, putting individuals in harm’s way by ignoring vaccine science, she argues. “The US is experiencing a surge in measles not seen in three decades, as there have been more than 4,000 cases since January last year.”

Discarding nutrition recommendations

Joshi shares that in addition to creating confusion for implementation agencies, the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) released by the Trump administration directly impacts millions of people (at least one in four US citizens), including vulnerable children, women, seniors, and veterans, through federal nutrition assistance programs that are required to align with the DGA. 

A majority of the science-based recommendations made in the report of the DGAC were discarded by the administration, says Joshi.A majority of the science-based recommendations made in the report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) were discarded by the administration, she notes.

“One example of a discarded recommendation that may impact public health in the long term is the switch from saturated fat to plant-based sources of unsaturated fat. The final DGA retains a recommended limit on saturated fat of 10% or less of calories, but emphasizes red meat, full-fat dairy, and butter, which is at odds with the recommended 10% cap,” says Joshi.

She explains that if individuals met the new DGA-recommended daily servings of protein foods (three servings per day for a 2,000-calorie diet), dairy (three servings of full-fat dairy per day), and “healthy fats” (4.5 servings per day) by consuming red meat, whole milk, and butter, it is very likely they would exceed the new DGA’s saturated fat limits.

“There is robust evidence that saturated fat raises LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and that LDL is a direct cause of, not just a risk factor for, heart disease, according to the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. And it matters what you replace saturated fat with.”

“Study after study shows that the risk of heart disease is slashed by replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, like those found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils. Replacing saturated fats with refined carbs or trans fats will not lower the risk of heart disease,” she argues.

Recommendations for improvement

The CSPI has provided recommended steps on how to improve health through nutritional guidance, with a focus on children.

The recommendations are based on scientific evidence and aim to decrease chronic disease rates. The organization urges the DGA to update its guidelines to align with science that benefits public health.

Additionally, it stresses the DGA to adequately fund nutrition and health research and allow the publications of publicly funded research to not be subject to political censorship.

Secondly, the food supply needs to become more transparent and safe, including closing the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) loophole to ensure new food ingredients will undergo a rigorous, transparent pre-market approval process by the US FDA. Additionally, the DGA must ensure that foods that are currently on the market are also assessed for safety and chemical contaminant levels.

CSPI stresses that the US food policy must reflect the needs and priorities of those who are affected by food system inequities.CSPI adds that the US food policy must reflect the needs and priorities of those who are affected by food system inequities.

“Community-informed policies and programs are needed to mitigate food insecurity and strengthen our domestic food system by centering the expertise of food system workers, consumers, and historically excluded producers,” it states.

With a focus on children’s health, CSPI urges for safe food, and children should be protected from harmful products, such as dangerous dietary supplements, alcohol, and unhealthy foods. Additionally, families must have access to safe and effective health care.

“If the Trump administration were serious about promoting health and well-being, they would consider evidence-based food and health policies to improve the US population’s health and reduce the risk of chronic disease,” says Joshi.

Misinformation spread

There has also been an increase in nutrition misinformation online. A recent survey has found that nearly half of US citizens rely on unaccredited sources, social media, and AI-generated recommendations for nutrition advice rather than trained professionals. It flags that consumers struggle to differentiate reliable data from misinformation.

“The spread of misinformation is rampant in the nutrition and health space. Most common areas of misinformation we are seeing are related to diet, dietary supplements, dietary guidelines and their scientific basis, and vaccines,” says Joshi.

Earlier this month, UK researchers developed a Diet-Nutrition Misinformation Risk Assessment Tool to detect and evaluate online nutrition misinformation’s potential harm. The team said it is the “first of its kind” as it differs from other misinformation-detecting tools, solely detecting if the content is true or false. It identifies dangerously misleading content, such as missing context, half-truths, and over-hyped claims.