Robert F Kennedy Jr has set his sights on changing how Americans eat and drink. From the dyes in Fruit Loops cereal to seed oils in chicken nuggets, Kennedy – who is President-elect Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – has long spoken out against ingredients that he says hurt Americans’ health.
“We are betraying our children by letting [food] industries poison them,” Kennedy said at a rally in November, after he had ended his independent presidential bid and backed Donald Trump.
But if Kennedy hopes to target junk food, he will first have to shake up the country’s food regulations – and run up against Big Food.
“Will Trump back him up on that? I’ll believe it when I see it,” said former New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle.
The former environmental attorney – who still must face confirmation by the Senate – is considered by many to be a controversial pick, given his history of making baseless health claims, including that vaccines can cause autism and that wifi technology causes cancer.
Yet some of his ideas around reforming the FDA have found support from health experts, lawmakers and concerned consumers alike – including some Democrats.
Kennedy “will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA”, Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis wrote on social media this week, welcoming his nomination. After receiving public backlash for praising him, Polis qualified his endorsement, writing on social media that “science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy”.
Leading up to the election, Kennedy – a former Democrat – offered several ideas for tackling chronic diseases under his slogan “Make America Healthy Again”.
He has frequently advocated for eliminating ultra-processed foods – products altered to include added fats, starches and sugars, like frozen pizzas, crisps and sugary breakfast cereals, that are linked to health problems like cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
He has taken aim primarily at school lunches, telling Fox News: “We have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now.”
Part of Kennedy’s new mandate will include overseeing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has over 18,000 employees.
The agency is in charge of ensuring the safety of pharmaceuticals and the US food supply, but has come under fire in recent years from some lawmakers and consumer groups, who have accused it of a lack of transparency and action on food safety.
The industry is used to limited oversight from both Democrats and Republicans – including under Trump’s first term – while many of Kennedy’s goals would involve even more rulemaking.
Several food industry groups met with lawmakers before Kennedy’s appointment this month to lobby against him, Politico reported last month.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, said this week that he planned to meet Kennedy before his confirmation hearing and “spend a lot of time educating him about agriculture”.
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