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Manufacturers Group Ups Fight Against RFK Jr. Focus on Ultra-Processed Foods
A manufacturers lobbying group is pushing back against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent pledge to look into the safety of ultra-processed foods. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which represents 14,000 companies in every sector, including the food and beverage industry, released a report Wednesday outlining how the U.S. food and beverage supply chain produces “safe, abundant, accessible and nutritious” options for Americans.
The group also released a video on Monday in which industry leaders touted their role in the food and beverage sector. During an interview that aired earlier this month on CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” Kennedy criticized the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) exemption that permits food companies to independently verify the safety of food additives without oversight from the Food and Drug Administration so long as they are broadly recognized as safe.
Exclusive: Target to Drop Synthetic Colors From All Cereals
Target will require every cereal it sells — including national brands — to be made without certified synthetic colors by the end of May, the company exclusively told Axios.
The shift puts Target among the first national retailers to remove the additives across an entire grocery category — compelling major cereal makers to reformulate if they want shelf space. Retailers rarely dictate ingredient standards to national brands, underscoring the leverage large chains hold over suppliers.
Friday’s announcement comes as federal health officials intensify pressure on food manufacturers over artificial dyes. Target is acting sooner than many major food companies that have pledged multi-year timelines. Food dyes have become a flashpoint in the fight over ultra-processed foods, particularly products marketed to children.
The FDA has taken steps toward phasing out petroleum-based food dyes, approving natural alternatives as part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s broader push.
What they’re saying: “We know consumers are increasingly prioritizing healthier lifestyles, and we’re moving quickly to evolve our offerings to meet their needs,” said Cara Sylvester, the retailer’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
Nearly 3 in 4 Packaged Baby-Food Products Sold in the US Are Ultra-Processed, Study Finds
More than seven in 10 Americans (72%) say they want to avoid ultra-processed foods, according to a national survey by Linkage Research, conducted for Food Integrity Collective. But those survey results don’t include a very important subset of the population: those not old enough to talk yet.
In February, researchers from The George Institute for Global Health published the findings of their study in the journal Nutrients, examining how often ultra-processed foods appear in products intended for infants and toddlers.
To get a complete picture, the team analyzed data on 651 products from the Institute’s FoodSwitch database, which, according to a statement, includes “infant and toddler food products sold in the top ten US grocery store chains.”
Foods Like Coca-Cola-Flavored Oreos Are ‘Hijacking’ Your Brain — Just Like Cigarettes
Call ’em crimes against the food pyramid. The Snack Gods have blessed us with some out-of-this-world fusions lately, dropping mashups like crème brûlée grilled cheese, barbecue-flavored Cheetos and cheeseburger spring rolls. Researchers are now warning that these types of craving crossovers — while oh-so-tantalizing — hook us by blending novelty with comforting nostalgia, a captivating combination that fuels overconsumption.
“Brand mash-ups like Coca-Cola-flavored Oreos or Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola stimulate human curiosity for new products all while leveraging the familiarity of popular brands,” scientists wrote this month in Milbank Quarterly, a population health and health policy journal.
“Thus, modern [ultra-processed foods] hijack evolutionary drives for novelty and familiarity to encourage further intake of their products.” Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are designed to be highly addictive and palatable, triggering intense brain reward signals and the release of the “feel-good” hormone dopamine.
How Ultra-Processed Foods Affect Our Gut Microbiome
The additives added to processed food to keep it fresher for longer might be having an unexpected effect on the health of the microbes in our guts. Inside all of us there’s a bustling community of trillions of cells that influences numerous aspects of our health. We call it our “microbiome”. “You can think of gut diversity as like a forest. The more microbes that you have and the different types of microbes in your forest, the greater resilience you have to any perturbations,” says Melissa Lane, a nutritional epidemiologist at Deakin University.
Science long ago confirmed that a healthy and diverse microbiome is key for our overall wellbeing, as it influences everything from our mood to our metabolism and even our brains. Those who have lower bacterial diversity in their gut are more prone to sleep problems, poorer gut health and greater inflammation, whilst a high diversity is even linked to a longer life.
“It’s this whole ecosystem. It’s like an extra organ that we have in our body,” explains Sarah Berry, a professor of nutrition from Kings College London. But some of the foods we commonly eat could be harming this ecosystem, evidence suggests. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in particular can disrupt and alter the microbes in our gut.
Investigation Exposes Counterfeit USDA Stickers on Meat Sold Across US: ‘Falsely [Represented] as … Safe’
A Pennsylvania farm co-owner and employee were charged after an investigation revealed that the two allegedly used counterfeit labels to mislead consumers into believing their beef was safe. ABC27 reported on the illegal operation that allegedly emanated out of Cumberland County’s Rocky Hill Farms. Following an investigation that kicked off in 2025, farm co-owner Thomas McElwee III and employee Angelia Kuhn were charged with forgery, deceptive business practices, and trademark counterfeiting charges.
In July, the Pennsylvania State Police got a tip accusing the duo of using falsified Department of Agriculture stamps. Authorities uncovered that the fake labels were affixed to uninspected meat products being sold in multiple states. Police said they found materials for making the counterfeit stickers in a garage closet that both McElwee and Kuhn used. Kuhn also allegedly had two fake labels inside her purse.
“Kuhn knowingly possessed, manufactured, used, and aided or facilitated the use of counterfeit USDA inspection marks to falsely represent meat products as being federally inspected and safe for sale,” the charging trooper wrote.
How Food Industry Lobbying Restrained Canada’s New Nutrition Labels
On New Year’s Day, supermarket shoppers in Canada started to see a new symbol on their food items. Known as a front-of-package label (FOPL), it features the image of a magnifying glass alongside the words “High in . . .” to signal foods with excess sugar, sodium, or saturated fats. In most cases that means over 15% of the daily recommended amount.
Food products must display the label as of 1 January 2026, after the government agency Health Canada adopted the regulation as part of its healthy eating strategy. Health Canada says that the FOPL is needed to cut health risks linked to frequently eating foods high in saturated fat, sugars, or sodium, including stroke, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.
After years of consultation the final FOPL was published in July 2022. Health Canada says that it set a deadline of 2026 to give the industry time to transition. During earlier consultations, food makers lobbied to have products exempted from the FOPL. Ground meats were ultimately exempted under Health Canada’s final rules. Meat producers had argued during consultations that these should be treated like other single ingredient meats.
