Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defends $5 salmon cake recipe after CNN price-checks him
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lashed out at CNN after the network price-checked a salmon cake recipe featured on his new cooking show, which claimed the dish cost less than $5 per serving.
CNN correspondent Tom Foreman found the actual grocery bill came to $70.54, compared with the $19.64 total Kennedy cited for a family of four.
The dispute began after CNN’s Erin Burnett shared Foreman’s report on X. Kennedy Jr. responded directly, accusing Burnett and the network of abandoning “common sense” and basic arithmetic.
The show and the claim
Kennedy launched The Real Food Show on YouTube as a Health and Human Services Department production, traveling around the country to cook with guest chefs as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
HHS says the show aims to make healthy eating practical, affordable and accessible, using whole-food ingredients and recipes that cost less than $5 per serving whenever possible.
The debut episode, filmed at chef Andrew Gruel‘s home in Huntington Beach, Calif., featured Kennedy Jr. and Gruel making crispy salmon cakes with an apple, white bean and arugula salad. Kennedy Jr. told Gruel they had asked for the recipes to stay under $5 per serving.
How CNN priced the recipe
Foreman recreated the dish using the ingredients and quantities shown on the program. On OutFront, he explained, “When we started buying ingredients used in the show, even going for the lowest prices at a big competitive chain, the cost heated up fast.”
The biggest discrepancies involved several ingredients. The show’s graphic priced wild-caught sockeye salmon at $8.99, while Foreman said the cheapest comparable frozen sockeye he found cost more than $24. A red onion was priced at eight cents based on the portion used, although buying the whole onion cost more than $1.
Avocado mayonnaise showed an even larger gap. The show valued the two tablespoons used at 40 cents, while Foreman said the full container cost more than $11.
Foreman said the show’s method prices only the portion of each ingredient used, rather than the amount consumers must actually pay at the grocery store. “They’re only pricing parts of it. And grocery stores don’t sell things that way,” he said.
His total grocery bill came to $70.54. Foreman acknowledged that the dish was “tasty” but questioned whether consumers could realistically make it with $20. “I do not see having made this, how you can walk into a grocery store with $20 and come out with everything you need for this,” he said.
Kennedy Jr.’s response
After Burnett shared the segment on X, Kennedy defended the show’s accounting method and criticized CNN’s approach.
He argued that CNN’s method effectively requires consumers to count the full price of every ingredient package, regardless of how much the recipe uses.
“If you put a squirt of ketchup on your burger, would you be surprised if the restaurant charged you for the whole bottle?” Kennedy wrote.
Kennedy said the show’s method is standard recipe costing, explaining that “we count what the recipe actually uses” while the unused ingredients “stay in the kitchen.”
Kennedy Jr.’s broader food agenda
The salmon cake dispute is not the first time a Donald Trump administration official’s low-cost food claims have faced scrutiny.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins previously said Americans could follow the administration’s dietary guidelines for as little as $3 a meal before revising the estimate to $15.64 a day following criticism of the original figure.
The Real Food Show promotes the administration’s revised dietary guidelines, which Kennedy Jr. describes as turning the traditional food pyramid upside down to emphasize protein and whole foods over processed foods.
Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly criticized processed foods, seed oils and soft drinks while promoting a diet heavy in meat and fermented vegetables. He has also said he keeps sauerkraut with him.
The cooking show is one of several platforms Kennedy Jr. has used to promote the MAHA agenda alongside celebrities. He also shared a workout video with musician Kid Rock on his social media accounts, showing them exercising, using a sauna and cooking together.