HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s constant drumbeat to “eat real food” – echoed in the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which also recommend limiting “highly processed food” – comes at a time when many time-poor and cash-strapped consumers rely heavily on packaged convenience.
For policymakers and public health advocates, the message is meant to be simple: Shift diets toward whole ingredients and fewer industrial additives. But the reality of the modern food system is far more complex. Millions of Americans depend on packaged foods for affordability, accessibility and time savings, raising questions about whether the debate around “real food” versus processed products risks overlooking the nuance between highly engineered formulations and thoughtfully prepared convenience.
In this week’s episode of FoodNavigator-USA’s Soup-To-Nuts Podcast, Amy’s Kitchen President Paul Schiefer unpacks what Kennedy’s focus on whole foods and the Dietary Guidelines mean in the real world of manufacturing, clean labels, organic standards and long-term brand trust.
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Beyond the packaged food backlash
For Schiefer, the administration’s emphasis on real food aligns closely with Amy’s founding philosophy. But, he argues, the increasingly polarized conversation around processed foods risks oversimplifying the role packaged products play in modern diets – and ignores the significant differences in ingredient quality, sourcing and production methods across the CPG landscape.
“That simple headline of, ‘Let’s eat more real food’ really resonates with me. It resonates with the purpose behind Amy’s,” Scheifer said. But, he added, the “one part that is difficult is there isn’t also a recognition that people don’t have unlimited time. Cooking from scratch everyday is difficult for economic reasons, for time reasons, people are balancing a lot today. And so, how do we make sure we account also for convenience, for equity, for affordability and really make sure that everyone has ability to access food that is being proposed out of these dietary guidelines.”
He adds that not all packaged foods are created equally. Some products, like those that he says Amy’s Kitchen offers, are made with whole ingredients in the same way they would be made in a home.
“There is also other stuff,” he acknowledged. “When you look at the back panel, it is like you need a chemistry degree to even understand it, and there are things that are probably better on the paint shelf than they are in your body. And so, I don’t think you can treat it all the same.”
Plant-based versus animal protein
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other messaging from Kennedy appear to place a premium on nutrition from animal products, but Schiefer notes consumers can easily meet their nutritional needs with plant-based products, like those made by Amy’s. However, he also acknowledges, in the current environment plant-based brands may need to step up communication about the nutritional benefits of their products to standout in an increasingly crowded and polarized market.
“We have many, many products that have great protein claims and really meet the need of what people are looking for,” but “I certainly see we need to communicate the protein in our products in different ways since it I smore of an important factor in the way people are choosing products,” he explained.
Certifications, organic and the fight for credibility
Schiefer’s call for clearer communication expands beyond protein and applies to the broader conversation about what constitutes healthy food and whether packaged and processed food counts.
One way to do that is through third-party certifications that consumers trust, he said.
“Certification vehicles help create a standard language and a standard way of doing commerce and a standard way of communicating about a different way of making food,” and they help people distinguish between different versions of packaged food, he said.
For example, Amy’s Kitchen’s products are USDA Organic certified, which has the force of law behind it and clearly communicates how ingredients were grown in a way that consumers understand, he said.
Amy’s Kitchen also participated in a recent pilot for a Non-UPF Verified claim offered by the same group that runs the Non-GMO Project, which is rolling out to a broader group of companies now.
Clean Label, Business Tradeoffs and the Future of Food
Certified claims like organic and now Non-UPF Verified are part of a broader shift towards products that are “clean label,” which is a much more amorphous concept, and which Schiefer says requires a different business model than the one under which many food companies currently operate.
“Clean label for consumers is representing this desire to put food in their body that is good for their body and that they can feel proud of,” and it is a reaction to “feeling let down with a lot of food that wasn’t made in the best way for people for many years,” he said.
Making clean label food consistently at scale requires a different business model that is more complicated, he argued.
For example, making food at scale with natural ingredients rather than standardized powders may require companies to train people differently or to taste the product more frequently and make adjustments along the way, he said.
“And maybe there is a little difference in the P&L” because when you product for $5 a little more goes to the ingredients and the people who cook the food and little less goes to elaborate marketing programs and the shareholders wallet, he added.
“But I don’t think that makes it a bad business. It just makes a different business. And it is a challenge we can take on. I don’t think we have to make food radically unavailable or unaffordable for people to do it, but we do have to shift the way we think about how we produce food and go for it,” he said.
As illustrated by Amy’s Kitchen’s success and 40 year tenure, food companies can build profitable businesses without sacrificing ingredient integrity.
But, as Schiefer also notes, as the debate about ultra-processed foods, dietary guidelines and public health continue, the CPG industry has an opportunity to move the conversation beyond simple labels and toward rebuilding trust through better food.
