Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised a taxpayer-funded meal delivery company on Monday, calling it a model for improving the nation’s health — even as critics pointed out the meals don’t live up to his own anti-processed food standards.
During a visit to Mom’s Meals’ facility in Oklahoma last week, Kennedy applauded the company for delivering $7-per-portion meals directly to Medicaid and Medicare recipients, including the elderly and chronically ill. In a video posted to his official account, he said, “This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again.”
Kennedy emphasized that the meals — including options like chicken bacon ranch pasta, French toast sticks with fruit, and ham patties — were made “without additives.”
But an Associated Press review of the company’s menu tells a different story.
According to food policy expert Marion Nestle of New York University, many of Mom’s Meals offerings are highly processed and packed with additives that would be impossible to replicate in a home kitchen. Nestle, who examined the ingredients and nutrition labels at the AP’s request, said many meals are high in sodium, sugar, and saturated fats — the very hallmarks of the “ultraprocessed” foods Kennedy has spent years condemning.
“It’s perfectly possible to make meals like this from real food without the additives, but every meal I looked at was loaded with them,” Nestle said. “It’s sad because they don’t have to be. Better meals are possible — they just cost more.”
Still, the meals do not contain some of the most controversial ingredients Kennedy has campaigned against, such as synthetic food dyes or high fructose corn syrup. Mom’s Meals also avoids sweeteners and preservatives banned in the European Union, according to company spokesperson Teresa Roof.
Defending the program, Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon called Mom’s Meals a “healthy alternative” to typical store-bought options — particularly for Medicaid recipients or recently hospitalized patients with limited access to fresh, home-cooked food.
The Iowa-based company is one of several across the country that provides “medically tailored” meals to Americans enrolled in specific Medicare or Medicaid plans. These meals are often prescribed for patients recovering from hospital stays or managing chronic illnesses like diabetes or cancer.
While the total federal spending on these meal programs remains unclear, a STAT News investigation last year found that some states were spending millions on food labeled as “dietician approved” but often loaded with salt, fat, and sugar — all staples of the American diet Kennedy says are making people sick.
Kennedy, who has made dietary reform a core part of his health policy and “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, has built an unusual coalition around the issue, including both Trump supporters and suburban health-conscious voters who call themselves “MAHA moms.”
In a recent post on social media, Kennedy warned that the prevalence of ultraprocessed foods has robbed Americans of their health and autonomy. “This country has lost the most basic of all freedoms — the freedom that comes from being healthy,” he said.
Despite the pushback, Kennedy continues to promote the idea that improving Americans’ diets — particularly by focusing on whole, minimally processed foods — is key to reversing chronic disease and restoring public health. Critics argue that if that’s truly his mission, the federal government should raise the bar on what it funds in the name of nutrition.
