Can RFK Jr make America’s diet healthy again? | Global News Avenue

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. worked to change the way Americans eat.

From dyes in Fruit Loops cereal to seed oil in chicken nuggets, Kennedy, President-elect Trump’s appointee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), has long spoken out against ingredients he believes are harmful to Americans’ health.

“We betray our children by allowing the (food) industry to poison them,” Kennedy said at a rally in November, when he ended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump.

But if Kennedy hopes to target junk food, he first must change the nation’s food regulations and take on Big Food.

“His advice was to go into the food industry,” said Marion Nester, a former New York University nutrition professor. “Will Trump support him? I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The former environmental lawyer must still be confirmed by the Senate and is viewed by many as a controversial pick because of his history of making unfounded health claims, including that vaccines cause autism and that WiFi technology causes cancer.

However, some of his ideas for reforming the FDA have gained support from health experts, lawmakers and concerned consumers, including some Democrats.

Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote on social media this week that Kennedy “will help America heal by shaking up the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration,” welcoming his nomination. After facing public backlash for praising him, Polis limited his support, writing on social media that “science must remain the cornerstone of our nation’s health policy.”

Before the election, former Democrat Kennedy floated some ideas for addressing chronic disease under the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.”

He often advocates eliminating ultra-processed foods — products with added fat, starch and sugar, such as frozen pizza, potato chips and sugary breakfast cereals, which have been linked to health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Focusing on school lunches, he told Fox News: “My generation of kids are living in a toxic soup right now.”

Part of Kennedy’s new responsibilities will include overseeing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has more than 18,000 employees.

The agency is responsible for ensuring the safety of medicines and the U.S. food supply, but has been criticized in recent years by some lawmakers and consumer groups who accuse it of a lack of transparency and action on food safety.

The 70-year-old promised to take a sledgehammer to the agency and sack staff in what he called a “corrupt system”.

“Entire departments, like the FDA’s nutrition division… have to go, but they’re not doing their job,” Kennedy told MSNBC this month.

He has also pushed for the elimination of food colorings, including Red 3 and other additives banned in other countries.

The former Democrat also pointed to more controversial health issues, including fluoride in drinking water (which he believes should be banned entirely) and raw milk (which he believes has health benefits despite the increased risk of bacterial contamination).

He also focused on seed oils, writing on social media that Americans were being “unknowingly poisoned” by products like canola and sunflower oil used in fast food.

Several public health experts support Kennedy’s goal of addressing the problem of ultra-processed foods, which they say are consumed at much higher rates in the United States than in many other countries.

“It’s exciting to hear someone advocating for action on chronic disease,” Ms. Nestor said.

Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit that advocates for food safety, said Kennedy’s goal of eliminating certain food additives and dyes could also be beneficial.

The former FDA official said the U.S. government should also ban several food dyes, including Red No. 3, which is banned in California, because of concerns about carcinogens.

The FDA disputed Kennedy’s assertion that the U.S. allows the use of thousands of additives banned in the European Union. A spokesperson said there was a need to “dig deeper and understand the context behind the numbers” when comparing regulations in the US and EU, which use different methodologies.

But public health experts and former officials say many of Kennedy’s goals were meritless and, in some cases, harmful.

For example, studies have found that drinking raw milk that has not been pasteurized (the process of pasteurization helps kill bacteria) can make people sick and even die.

“To our knowledge, there is no evidence that unpasteurized milk has any level of nutritional benefit,” Dr. Lurie said.

Ms Garner said Kennedy’s proposal to remove fluoride from drinking water could also be problematic because lower levels of fluoride in water have been shown to improve dental health.

Removing it from the water supply is also beyond his jurisdiction because fluoride levels are controlled by states.

Dr. Lurie said his claim that seed oil is helping to drive the obesity epidemic also has no scientific basis.

“We haven’t seen any evidence of this. In fact, they appear to be important products that can replace ‘saturated fats’ such as butter,” he said.

Some experts say food reform, while long part of the public health conversation, may also be unrealistic from a political and bureaucratic perspective.

“It’s more complicated than he lets on,” Dr. Lurie said. “These are real challenges and you’re going to run into industry pushback every time.”

First, several former officials told the BBC that the FDA does not have jurisdiction over all “ultra-processed foods.”

Instead, they say, the process is more complicated. Both the USDA and FDA regulate the food industry. The FDA does not make rules – it enforces policies passed by Congress and works to limit unhealthy foods by enforcing limits and labeling on certain nutrients, such as sodium and saturated fat.

Ms. Garner said Kennedy’s remarks “constituted great political rhetoric.” “In my view, I don’t see how this is feasible without significant changes in other policies and infrastructure.”

Former Food and Drug Administration officials say he will also face backlash from industry over his proposal to ban pesticides and genetically modified organisms commonly used by U.S. farmers.

“Companies are going to complain,” said Rosalie Lijinsky, a former FDA official who spent 33 years.

The industry has become accustomed to limited oversight from both Democrats and Republicans — including during Trump’s first term — and many of Kennedy’s goals will involve more rulemaking.

Ahead of Kennedy’s appointment this month, several food industry groups met with lawmakers to lobby against him, Politico reported last month.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said this week that he plans to meet with Kennedy ahead of his confirmation hearing and “spend a lot of time educating him on agriculture.”

Kennedy’s stance also puts him at odds with President-elect Trump. Trump, a longtime lover of fast food, spent his first term working to roll back stricter health requirements for school lunches.

“You’re going to get some ideas that make some sense, but they’re exactly what this administration is against,” Dr. Lurie said.

The Food Industry Association, which represents food retailers, producers and manufacturers such as General Mills, said in a statement to the BBC that it looked forward to working with the Trump team to “ensure food and drug policy continues to be based on science and reduce regulatory complexity.” sex”.

Industry complaints about Kennedy’s agenda are not surprising, said Jeff Hurt, spokesman for the Make America Healthy Again political action committee, which urged Republican lawmakers to confirm Kennedy’s nomination.

Hurt said the health movement’s goal is to “put the health of America ahead of corporate profits.”

“Even if the idea of ​​banning ultra-processed foods is politically impossible, it’s a conversation we need to have,” he said.

Former officials said Kennedy could still work to improve the U.S. food system within the country’s existing regulatory framework.

Ms. Nestlé said Kennedy could address ultra-processed foods by revising the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which set nutritional standards for industry and federal programs, including school lunches and military meals.

“They have a huge impact on the food industry,” Ms. Nestlé said. “It makes a big difference.”

The guidance is updated every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, which previously said there was insufficient evidence against ultra-processed foods.

Still, officials and nutrition experts have expressed concern about the way Kennedy proposes to implement his agenda, including firing the FDA’s nutritionists.

Ms Likinski said the move would have a significant impact on food safety. “If you lose top experts, you’re going to have problems,” she said.

Ultimately, Ms. Garner said, it was difficult to separate some of Kennedy’s more reasonable food-improvement goals from the false health claims he spread.

“There’s an opportunity here,” Ms. Garner said.

“But I think there are legitimate concerns based on other issues and how his approach to those issues might play out.”