Plated fats - rule?

[rknap14]

Oh my!  There is a raging debate in some of the Whole30 Facebook groups about whether a plated fat is a requirement of the program.  One side says "yes", it's part of the template and it's a rule.  The other side says "it's not in the rules"

Help!

Has Melissa ever spoken directly to this subject?

Thanks!

[ShannonM816]

Adding fat is part of the meal template, which is a recommendation. You could do a Whole30 without ever making any meal meet the meal template and as long as you followed the rules, you'd still have done a Whole30 -- but you'll get the best results if you also incorporate the recommendations, including making your meals match the meal template.

Here's a little more explanation about rules vs. recommendations:  https://whole30.com/2015/01/rules-recommendations/ and the rules are here:   https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/.