250 US Hospitals Join Pledge for Healthier Food, Announced by Kennedy and Oz

Two hundred and fifty hospitals across the United States have joined the Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge, an initiative to cut processed food and added sugar from patient and staff meals, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz have announced.

They argue that people who enter a hospital expect care that helps them heal, yet meals in many hospitals feature highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates and added sugars that do little to support recovery.

The pledge was launched by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve the nutritional quality of meals hospitals serve to patients and staff.

Kennedy and Oz say that under President Trump, the Make America Healthy Again movement is rethinking the role of nutrition in American healthcare, but that transforming healthcare requires more than changing federal policies; it requires changing the environments in which Americans receive care.

For patients recovering from surgery, fighting infections or managing chronic illnesses, they say, proper nutrition can support wound healing, preserve muscle mass, strengthen immune function and improve recovery, while malnutrition correlates with longer hospital stays, more complications and greater healthcare costs.

They give the example of a patient admitted with complications of Type 2 diabetes, who may receive excellent treatment and counselling about healthy eating, while the meals the hospital serves during the stay contradict that advice. A hospital meal should reinforce the care plan, not undermine it, they argue.

There are approximately 6,100 hospitals in the United States, accounting for more than 35 million admissions each year, and the broader American healthcare foodservice market represents nearly $20 billion in annual economic activity. Hospitals are among the largest customers of major foodservice companies, distributors and manufacturers, so their purchasing decisions influence which products suppliers develop.

The pledge is voluntary and collaborative because hospital supply chains are complex and patients have diverse medical and nutritional needs. Kennedy and Oz say they are not interested in Washington dictating hospital menus or second-guessing physicians and registered dietitians, and hospitals must retain flexibility for patients who need specialised therapeutic diets or medical nutrition support.

They thanked the American Hospital Association and the healthcare systems that have joined the effort, and called on the rest of America's hospitals to join them. Kennedy is the 26th Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and Oz is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.