RFK Jr threatens to withhold millions in funding for hospitals that serve Jell-O and other sugary treats

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 30 April 2026 19:57 EDT


Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading a charge to stop hospitals from serving sugary drinks and foods, including Jell-O.

The Department of Health and Human Services sent a memo to hospitals on March 30 urging them to align with the Department of Agriculture’s new 2025-2030 dietary guidelines, which emphasize limiting sugary, ultra-processed foods.

The agency wants hospitals to “align their food purchases with the dietary guidelines in order to enjoy continued eligibility for Medicaid and Medicare payments,” Kennedy said at a press conference last month.

“We shouldn’t be giving … people who are sick Jell-O and Cheerios and rubber chicken and sugar drinks,” he added.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/rfk-jr-hospital-funding-sugary-foods-b2968484.html

---

NEWSFLASH to the brainworm host - foods like jello are often part of the first "solid" foods that patients get in hospitals as part of the transition from liquid "clears", particularly after surgery. Most hospitals have "nutritionists" who come up with the various meal plans.

I don't think I have seen cereal like "Cheerios" for breakfast in a hospital and certainly no soda. Water (mostly), and maybe some kind of fruit juice (apple or orange).

These nutritionists have DEGREES and are TRAINED IN THEIR FIELD unlike you, THE MOST UNQUALIFIED Secretary of Health and Human Services EVER (and I served under 9 of them before retiring), and your illicit drug-addled self.

[oasis]

1. After all, Dr. Kennedy knows best.

[Ray Bruns]

19. When does that start?

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I was expecting Jr. to ban Jello because gelatin used to come from horses.

[ratchiweenie]

55. I looked it up because I thought it came from horses too.

Jell-O's gelatin is derived from the collagen found in the bones, skin, and connective tissues of animals, mainly pigs and cows.

It's still kinda icky and I don't like jello but my husband, son, and grandkids still love it. And yes, sometimes it is the only thing a person can keep down when they are sick. The man is a total idiot.

[ToxMarz]

90. It could come from horses

Horses just aren't a major player for slaughter in the US (volume wise), certainly not like pigs and cattle. They used to talk about sending old horses 'to the glue factory '. A nice way of saying slaughter.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Sometimes jello is all you can keep down. And you need the calories and hydration.

Your body needs calories to heal.

[question everything]

39. Common food before colonoscopy

[Irish_Dem]

43. Exactly. And when people have the flu.

[eppur_se_muova]

51. And after oral surgery. (Usually outpatient, but not when other conditions involved) nt

[Irish_Dem]

53. Our mothers always kept jello stocked in their cupboards.

For all the reasons we are mentioning.

They had to keep liquids and calories in their kids when they could not eat for one reason or another.

Dental work, flu, sugary, stomach problems.

[BumRushDaShow]

88. I remember as a kid when we had a set of "sundae" glasses like these

They were nearly break-proof being made with heavy glass, and were almost exclusively used for ice cream or some Jell-O product, including the pudding!

(ETA - ice cream for the inevitable tonsillitis)

[Irish_Dem]

89. Yep. Most homes probably had the same.

[ColoringFool]

72. Hello! I have my boxes of LIME GREEN ready for this month!

[lonely bird]

108. Also

Part of the first food after being on an NG tube after bowel obstruction surgery.

[Irish_Dem]

111. Nurses are going to be really angry if RFK takes away jello in the hospital.

What the heck are some of their patients going to eat.

[dalton99a]

56. +1. People need extra protein and calories after surgery

[Irish_Dem]

58. Exactly.

Some years ago I had a serious fall and broke three vertebra in my back.

I had to have surgery to repair all of it.

After the surgery, the pain meds made me sick to my stomach and I could not hold anything down. I could not eat.

The nurses kept telling me that if I did not eat, the bones in my back would not heal.
So it was mostly jello for me. I could keep that down and get some calories in my system.
It kept me going until I could get some food down.

[dalton99a]

59. +1. It is common sense, and hospitals have been doing it for 100 years

[Laffy Kat]

109. I know! It's what I always start with after a G.I. virus.

Actually, that's the only time I make or buy Jello, but it's a must.

[yourout]

4. There needs to be a law that says the director has to have a medical license.

This is just nuts.

[Hugin]

5. Yes plain Cheerios are served in many hospitals.

They are high in fiber and being oats have many benefits including lower starch and carbohydrates.

Rubber chickens on the other hand.

He’s just talking to hear himself prattle.

[samplegirl]

10. Full of glysophate

too!

[ShazzieB]

21. The same can be said of lots of "healthy" foods.

Including fruits and vegetables, unless you buy only organically grown produce and other plant based foods (which are more expensive, if you can even find the stuff).

I've been alive for over 76 years now, eating stuff RFK Jr would be horrified by the whole time. If the stuff was going to kill me, it's had plenty of time to do so by now. I refuse to worry about what a man who thinks raw milk is a super food says I should or shouldn't eat, lol.

[deurbano]

66. But he's not horrified by germs... as in snorting cocaine off toilet seats!

It was never the germs... but apparently, always the jello.

Plus, does he actually believe in fruits and vegetables, organic or not? His carnivore diet seems to avoid them as much as sugar and grain.

I'm his age, and we are not far behind you in age... and given all his other lifestyle choices, I doubt healthy eating was ever a priority. And apparently, he still goes to tanning salons to achieve a face that looks like an old catcher's mitt! But it's not enough to be so wildly reckless with his own health; he wants others to have the same chance to give themselves skin cancer:
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/19/nx-s1-5752430/fda-tanning-beds

[ShazzieB]

84. An old carcher's mitt!

That's exactly what his face looks like! That really cracked me up, and rereading it still makes me giggle. Does the man not believe in supplements? I mean the only nutritional benefit of sunshine, afaik, is vitamin D, which is easy enough to remedy. I've been taking it every day for years, after bloodwork showed I was low on it.

The article you linked was very interesting. It sounds like he thinks UV light, like raw milk and beef tallow, has some kind of magical properties. What a nutjob. Before he became HHS Secretary, I was only aware of his bizarre views on vaccines. I now see that the vaccine thing was only the tip of the crazy iceberg!

[deurbano]

112. I can't take credit for comparing his face to an old catcher's mitt, but thought it was pretty funny... and apt!

And yes, his anti-vaccine stuff is JUST the tip of the crazy iceberg!

[BumRushDaShow]

31. It (the plain kind) as an example, has been something recommended for toddlers as an early "solid finger food" for years

(since it will more easily dissolve). But he must be fixating on their flavored versions -

[Hugin]

41. Having had too many hospital stays...

I can vouch that fiber is your friend.

In the hospitals defense, I have only ever seen the plain variety.

They take the diets very seriously. Like a strict cardiac diet cuts out cheddar cheese. Too much salt. No grilled cheese for you!

[BumRushDaShow]

50. Oh I know

Been there done that myself (along with family having the ordeal). Have never had any problems with the food.

Back when I was in high school, I used to do 4 hour shifts as a Candy Striper. Had my pink and white-striped jumper, crisply starched hat, and cushiony white "nurse" shoes. Could do my whole hospital round in that slot time frame. Now that hospital has quadrupled in size (I had done the "old original building" back then) and there is no way!

[rzemanfl]

6. "Let them eat roadkill."

Fuck this guy.

[ms liberty]

7. Fix the disgusting mess we're feeding the soldiers none of you care about first

Hospital food is fine. Every one I've eaten in for the last, oh my whole lifetime, has been pretty damn good for the most part.

[Ilsa]

22. With only a few excrptions, hospital food is fine,

usually low fat. I think I'd take a shaker of pepper and some cayenne next time I'm overnight.

[womanofthehills]

113. I thought the food was gross when I was last in the hospital

When I have to go in for hip surgery, I think I will pack healthy snacks in my suitcase.

[Vinca]

8. What might Wormboy recommend for a post-op meal? Pureed roadkill?

[durablend]

14. Raw sewage

[womanofthehills]

114. I would like something like organic grape juice - something healthy

Jello can be made to be more healthy but it will never happen. I occasionally make my own with organic gelatin and organic grape juice instead of tons of sugar and food coloring. The grape juice is naturally sweet so no sugar needed and the natural color is beautiful.

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. Uhhhhhhhhhhh, I thought they were the party of "personal accountability".

Fuck you RFK jr.

[samplegirl]

11. Why don't he

Worry about the poison being sprayed on our fruits and vegetables instead????

Glysophate!

[lastlib]

12. Note to self:

Put more Jell-O on the shopping list.......

[Bengus81]

13. Out with Jello squares and IN with raccoon penis!

And to think how much I admired that guy decades ago.

[Botany]

15. Knowledge of a subject has never stopped that jack wagon from speaking about that subject.

Hospitals have dietitians with college degrees in that subject. They had to take chemistry, biology,
biochemistry, physiology, and lots of classes in food science too. My mother taught human nutrition
@ nursing schools, colleges, as well as working in hospitals, the Ohio Department of Corrections … the inmates got a balanced diet …. and she wrote a textbook that was used all over too.

Btw a lot of people in hospitals are facing life ending diseases and if some chocolates, soda pop,
and cheese burgers make them have a little enjoyment so be it.

RFK Jr. is bereft of any real knowledge. Besides if you snort coke from toilet seats, shot heroin,
and spread disinformation about medicine then you shouldn’t be talking about it.

RFK Jr. is like Trump in that he is burning America to the ground.

[BigmanPigman]

16. I eat sugar free jello and it's good.

Why can't they serve that instead?

I mix it into non fat plain yogurt for a treat.

[niyad]

30. Possibly because some people are allergic to artificial sweeteners?

[LeftInTX]

36. Jello is considered a clear liquid. People on clear liquid diets need sugar.

It's temporary for surgery prep and recovery.
Because it's their only source of calories.
Can't have yogurt on clear liquid diets.

I personally hate the stuff, but had to eat lemon jello for colonscopy prep.

It's that or clear/lemon gatorade or 7UP, which is also high in sugar.

Sugar is the most basic and simplest form of calories.

Post-op clear liquids are also the diet.

[BumRushDaShow]

38. Me and my sisters laugh about the "clears"

E.g , something like a low sodium chicken broth from a bullion cube, and FINALLY transitioning to a broth with one fat droplet floating on top, where we could get excited knowing we were on our way to solid food soon.

[Hugin]

47. I was on a "clear" for three weeks back in the day...

Salivation over hot cloudy beige water is something to behold. I don’t remember any jell-o. Only “bullion”, “tea”, and sometimes “ice” for dessert.

I could hear the food cart rolling off of the elevator at the way far end of the hall and ever so slowly creeping up my way.

[Zackzzzz]

68. When I was little, recovering, measles + pneumonia, I remember the fat droplet floating on top.

My Grandmother was a nurse in 1900 and when I got better she made me this concoction.
It might have a name, I just don't remember.
In your oatmeal bowl, you put a peeled, soft boiled egg.
Chop it up.
Then add a slice of torn, warm bread.
Give a good mix and then add a little milk.
Yummy

[Hassin Bin Sober]

95. Because sometimes the doctors are more concerned with keeping your strength up than putting you on a diet.

[TexasBushwhacker]

96. Why should they have to?

They serve Jello to get a few calories in you when you can't keep anything down, after surgery, etc. He isn't a doctor, or a nutritionist! He needs to be fired or at the very least STFU!!!

[pat_k]

100. The sugar is the point. Healing requires calories.

More below:

Oh for fucks sake. As a person who was hospitalized multiple times as a kid...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143658981#post97

[Historic NY]

17. What he doesn't know is harmful

clear liquid diet, no solid foods..... On my long term hospitalization I was on a feeding tube for 54 days the switch to food took time. They used to mix up a ginger ale slurry with ice to give me some thing to activate swallowing.

[Ilsa]

24. Yep, sometimes something dissolvable, safe, and

soft is needed to activate the entirety of the digestive system from lips to anus.

[Bristlecone]

18. He really is one dumb SOB

[hlthe2b]

20. Kick that hornet's nest, you miserable brain-dead incompetent...

The blowback is going to be delicious! (far better than the jello, but still)

[Racygrandma]

23. Jello helps with digestion issues

My husband has to go to the bathroom a lot. He was told jello helps to resolve that issue. So he buys the little jello cups at the store. Yeah brainworm guy.

[jfz9580m]

33. When my mom had cancer

And was undergoing chemo, finding anything she could keep down was hard.
We just needed to get some calories into her she could keep down. Jello might have worked come to think of it.
Kennedy is an ass.

[Wicked Blue]

25. The new desserts will include stewed roadkill

topped with raccoon penises

[vankuria]

26. When my husband was in ICU

The only thing he could get down was ginger ale and popsicle's.

[twodogsbarking]

28. Bill Cosby was not available for comment.

[-misanthroptimist]

29. A little help

Where did RFK Jr go to medical school?

[IcyPeas]

74. Maybe trump university 💩

[Ritabert]

32. Is this from "The Onion? It's got to be a joke.

[Lovie777]

34. shithole, administration, cabinet, republican party are all bat-shit crazy..................

RW 6 jerks is right up with them..................

winning the November elections this year hopefully will be the beginning to end this total nightmare.

The above mentioned people are terrorists and enjoy terrorizing the American people.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

35. RFK, Jr. is mandating

That hospitals must include road kill raccoon penises in every meal.

[Joinfortmill]

37. Brain Worm speaks again.

[El Mimbreno]

61. No, that's the host speaking,...

The worm is smarter.

[SpankMe]

40. This kind of coercive governing is bullshit

When the federal gov't withheld highway funds from states that didn't implement a 55 mph speed limit on highways, conservatives characterized it as government opression. Any federal gov't monetery incentives used to implement (i.e., 'force') a government policy has been labeled 'overreach'.

Now, suddenly, we're blackmailing hospitals into banning Cheerios and Jello by threatening Medicare and Medicaid money?

The word 'hypocrisy' doesn't begin to cover this.

Also, things like Jello, Cheerios, saltine crackers and such are mild foods that provide a soft touch to the system when recovering from surgery and general anesthesia. You don't eat steak and broccoli as your first meal after waking up. That'll put you into gastric violence.

Further, small children undergoing hospitalization need to consume food - any food - so they don't fall into malnutrition. You can't feed them liver and onions.

[70sEraVet]

42. Why worry about Jello? We don't even NEED hospitals!

We got President Jesus who can heal people with his radioactive hands!

[pat_k]

103. Yep. Eugenics. "Cleaning up the risk pool"

Ah so they just say the eugenics aloud now

— Alex Hanna (@alexhanna.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T21:14:35.652Z

'If they would rather die,' said Scrooge, 'they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

[Grokenstein]

107. That's pretty damn funny coming from death warmed over jr and his boss the syphilitic pig.

[Irish_Dem]

44. Why are we taking medical advice from someone with a law degree, not a medical degree.

[bluescribbler]

45. If he really wants to make hospital food healthier...

He should tell them to stop serving overcooked vegetables.

[generalbetrayus]

46. RFK Jr knows all about Jell-O,

His cranium is full of it.

[idahoblue]

48. That is every hospital in the country.

[Autumn]

49. This dip fuck should ban sugar. Or anything else he doesn't like

So stupid.

[travelingthrulife]

52. This creature is demented.

[Martin68]

54. I'm not a fan of jello -I don't eat the stuff myself - but it certainly has a place in hospitals for people in recovery

or suffering from conditions that impair their ability chew , swallow, or comfortably eat solid food.

[dalton99a]

57. Democrats must impeach this utterly unqualified, incompetent, dangerous ghoul.

[Jilly_in_VA]

60. Is he anti-Ensure too?

Because sometimes that's the only thing we could get down our elderly patientents. Or really sick ones whe were on a liquid diet (not dlear).Or milkshakes. Or, God forbid, ICE CREAM for kiddies or adults? Get rid of this idiot by whatever means.

[chowder66]

62. JFC! People are in the hospital temporarily and the nutritionists know what they're doing.

[Buddyzbuddy]

63. You wanna help MF'er.

Help to get corn syrup in any form of ingredients out of "sugar free" food.
You can't recommend that though because that would piss off the corn growers, and the pharmaceutical industry which pays bribe money to politicians.

Truth in labeling is tantamount to people's health.

[Buddyzbuddy]

64. More possum penis. Or was that raccoon?

[popsdenver]

65. RFK Jr. is the same as all others

In the Trump/Republican's administration..........

If for every position in their entire CABAL they had a candidate list of descending qualifications of 1000 people made for each job.............they would/have picked # 1000 at the bottom of the list.......SERIOUSLY

AND, it isn't by accident..........

In Hill Billy jargon, all are "suck egg dogs"........

[twodogsbarking]

67. Is Jello still served in schools? Now they will get whale heads and racoon penis*s

[OMGWTF]

69. I'm so old that I remember when you could smoke in hospitals.

In high school (class of '74), I was a volunteer Candy Striper at the local hospital. A patient with a broken leg gave me a note and some money to buy him a pack of cigarettes from the gift shop in the lobby. I brought the smokes to him and watched him puff-puff away in front of his doctors. Hell, our high school had a special smoking section for students who weren't old enough to buy cigarettes.

[3catwoman3]

101. When I was a nursing student in the early 1970s, I worked weekends as a unit clerk...

...in the observation section of the Emergency Department - it was an 8 bed unit where patients who needed to be watched but did not warrant a full admission could be for a 2-3 day stay.

I walked into on of the rooms one day and found an elderly gentleman smoking while getting oxygen via nasal cannula. "You need to put that out RIGHT NOW," I said, rather loudly.

I'm surprised he didn't blow the place up.

[LeftInTX]

70. Next, he'll ban glucose in IV's!

[dalton99a]

73. +1

[3catwoman3]

99. Don't give him any ideas!

[ColoringFool]

71. THAT'S ALL THESE DJT THUGS DO: THREATEN. DEPRIVE. DESTROY.

[Grokenstein]

75. Oh no, this is real. You got me; I was sure this was TheOnion.

THEY. WANT. YOU. TO. DIE.
and they want you to suffer while dying.

[pat_k]

105. And aren't mincing words about it...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143658981#post103

[IcyPeas]

76. See: Mayor Bloomberg and Michelle Obama ....

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large-sized sodas at certain establishments, colloquially known as the soda ban, is a lesson in how to make your cause look ridiculous.

Bloomberg hoped the ban would spark a nationwide crackdown on sugary beverages. Instead, it became the subject of widespread mockery, inspired an instant-classic New York Post headline (“Soda Jerk”) and got struck down by a New York judge this week as “arbitrary and capricious.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/bloombergs-soda-folly-088841

Before Trump’s efforts to make kids healthier, there was Michelle Obama
The first lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative to improve school nutrition and exercise drew some criticism from the right — which has been much more muted as the Trump administration promotes MAHA messaging.

But the first lady drew widespread partisan backlash for her efforts, as right-wing media personalities and Republicans vehemently criticized related regulation as government overreach. They have been more muted as the Trump administration, led in part by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now adopts similar messaging about children’s health.

https://19thnews.org/2025/08/michelle-obama-trump-maha-healthy-children/

[BumRushDaShow]

78. Bloomberg's "sugary drinks" thing eventually morphed into a tax on "sugary drinks" here in Philly

But in the OP's case, brainworm host is looking for a solution to an almost non-existent problem by targeting HOSPITALS, that are already set up for providing specific dietary needs based on a patient's health/condition. But in reality, this is being done to continue to GUT Medicaid by withholding funds.

[mercuryblues]

77. Someone needs to warn kegsbreath

Lime Jell-o is fantastic made with Tequilla. Coconut Jello with rum...

Jell-o is the gateway drug to blue raspberry and vodka shots.

[BumRushDaShow]

79. And they come in so many pretty colors too!

[mercuryblues]

85. Sure its all a joke now

just wait until he comes after the chocolate pudding /w Bailys Irish cream. It will never end.

[BumRushDaShow]

86. The pudding was my second thought when he said "Jello"

because "Jell-o" is actually a name brand.

[Goonch]

80. ;-{) The Jell-O Ultimatum

[GenThePerservering]

116. He actually doesn't look that jacked, though, and they cleaned up his face lol

[patphil]

81. Next he'll demand thay don't provide sugar for the coffee they serve to the patients.

[Doodley]

82. Any excuse to withhold healthcare funding.

[Mblaze]

83. Oh just fuck off.

[EX500rider]

87. Can they serve whale meat or racoon penis's?

[NoSheep]

91. I'm sick. Give me my gyaddamn JELLO!!! Strawberry, not that lime crap.

[Grins]

92. Not a "memo;" that was a threat.

Like everything this mid-administration does.

[wiggs]

93. Who remembers that Sarah Palin brought sugar cookies to an elementary school, soon after Michelle Obama visited

the school to promote better nutrition and sugar avoidance??

She was horrible...but at the time and still in red areas, promoting healthy foods is radical left ideology. But now it comes from their team so who knows....

[BumRushDaShow]

94. Democrats were accused of creating a "nanny state"

Turns out the GOP "projects" again.

[pat_k]

97. Oh for fucks sake. As a person who was hospitalized multiple times as a kid...

... with what in later years was diagnosed as atypical migraine (i.e., intractable vomiting), finally being able to have a little jello -- the only thing that stayed down after a couple days on an IV -- was a fantastic thing.

So what if it was "sugary"? So was the damn glucose in the IV.

Bobbie is mentally deranged.

[wolfie001]

98. I just bought lemon and lime sugar free jello for my upcoming procedure that I'm really not looking forward to

Restricted diet for about 2 days. Of course, JFK Jr. has to send in his truckload of bullshit. I haven't bought Jello in 20 years. What's next with that crazy mother fucker?

[pat_k]

102. deleted duplicate

I posted "What's next? Banning Intravenous glucose/dextrose solutions??" then saw LeftinTx beat me to it.

[sheshe2]

104. Dietary advice from a man who stored roadkill in his freezer.

Goddess knows what he used it for.

[progressoid]

106. Fuckin moron

[Rhiannon12866]

110. What?!! I had Jello when I was hospitalized and often with lunch at school, my favorite flavor was green...

There's always room for Jello!

[City Lights]

115. But heroin is great!

He is clearly brain-damaged, like the hero he kneels before.