Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resigned Thursday, dealing a setback to the administration’s efforts to overhaul the U.S. food system.

Means’ departure is likely to come as a relief to big food companies, who had fought against his efforts to create a federal definition of ultra-processed food. He played a leading role in attempting to hold together Kennedy’s coalition of supporters, known as the Make America Healthy Again movement, ahead of the midterm elections. Means was also a driving force behind a proposal to increase transparency into food ingredients the administration released this summer.

“I leave with tremendous respect for President Trump and RFK — two historic figures who are committed to confronting a corrupt D.C. bureaucracy that is doing everything possible to protect the status quo,” Means said in a statement. “This movement is in the first inning and just getting started.”

Shares of food companies including General Mills Inc., Campbell’s Co., Kraft Heinz Co. and Conagra Brands all moved higher Thursday afternoon. Consumer staples companies had already been doing well after Procter & Gamble’s stronger-than-expected quarterly results, and were also fueled by investor appetite for defensive names after lackluster earnings reports from tech companies.

Means helped broker the alliance between Kennedy and President Donald Trump that led to the Make America Healthy Again movement and was the most vocal champion of its efforts to take on the food system. He frequently criticized food companies as corrupt and determined to keep feeding Americans unhealthy food.

Many of MAHA’s key initiatives have yet to be realized, including a white paper outlining a definition of ultra-processed food under review by the White House budget office and changes to school meals. Kennedy urged states to implement programs blocking people from using food-aid benefits to buy soda or candy, though some of those efforts are tied up in court.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Means’ departure.

The Trump administration did shift the federal dietary guidelines and propose a rule that would largely stop allowing food companies to determine that new ingredients they use are safe without notifying the federal government. And it urged food companies to voluntarily remove artificial dyes, but without using regulatory powers to compel such action. Many foods, including candy and beverages, still have products that use synthetic dyes.

The Trump administration has wrestled with how to court Kennedy’s diverse coalition of supporters.

Means first joined the administration as a special government employee, a time-limited position, before being hired as a senior adviser supporting food and nutrition policy. He and his sister, former Surgeon General nominee Casey Means, rose to prominence after writing a New York Times best-selling book, "Good Energy," about the connection between metabolic function and health.

Calley Means also cofounded TrueMed, a company that lets people use tax-advantaged health savings accounts to buy health, wellness and fitness products. It facilitates the approval process so consumers can use those funds for a range of fitness equipment and memberships, cold-plunge pools, saunas, mattresses and supplements.

_____

(With assistance from Janet Freund.)

_____

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.