Top MAHA Adviser Calley Means Resigns Amid Reported Frustration Over White House Food-Policy Delays

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is stepping down.

Calley Means, who has worked on a range of Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiatives, did not disclose a reason for his resignation on Oct. 22, and said he has tremendous respect for both Kennedy and President Donald Trump.

“They laid out a vision of combatting the entrenched, dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick. More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history – and I know this movement is just getting started,” Means wrote on X.

“It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from [food stamps], removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement.”

The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

Means, 41, founded a company called Truemed in 2022, which focused on letting people spend money from health savings accounts and similar tranches on health products, and later co-authored a book with his sister, Dr. Casey Means.

Early in Trump’s second term, Means was a special government employee, advising Kennedy and other officials. He joined the Department of Health and Human Services in late 2025 as a senior adviser.

Means has frequently spoken at press briefings and on social media about steps the Trump administration has taken to clean up food, including banning several synthetic dyes and pressuring companies to voluntarily remove others, and updating the food pyramid.

“I leave with tremendous respect for President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” he said.

“This movement is in the first inning and just getting started.”

Means said he would continue working to further Kennedy’s MAHA agenda.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Means was greatly frustrated by White House delays of some of Kennedy’s most popular policy ideas and blamed others in the administration for allowing food companies and special interests to have too much sway, people familiar with the matter said. One of them described Means as “disillusioned.”

Means declined to comment on the reasons for his departure.

Means’ exit comes after administration officials deferred announcements of two of Kennedy’s food priorities: a definition of ultraprocessed foods aimed at eventually labeling them as such, as well as a regulation mandating less added sugar and more protein in school meals.