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During Day 2 of His Hearings, RFK Jr. Emphasizes ‘Toxins’ in Food
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was on Capitol Hill again today for the second part of his confirmation hearing to lead the sprawling U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS.
Today’s hearing was with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) kicked off by saying he agreed with Kennedy on “the need to address ultra-processed food and to reduce obesity, the leading cause of chronic disease, and therefore shorter life spans. This will be a priority in this committee, and I look forward to collaborating with you if you are confirmed.”
In the few other moments where food and disease prevention were mentioned, Kennedy repeatedly focused his answers on chemical additives in the food supply. He skewered the GRAS (“generally recognized as safe”) standard, which the FDA uses to allow certain additives into food without the rigorous safety testing other ingredients face, and said food companies shouldn’t have different ingredient lists for foods they sell in the U.S. vs. Europe. Later, Kennedy said, “NIH, CDC, and FDA should identify the toxins that are contributing to chronic disease and eliminate them.”
A Raw Milk Magnate Has Spent Years Fighting Public Health Agencies. Will RFK Jr. Take His Side?
In December, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department reported that five house cats had died after drinking raw milk. Four of their bodies subsequently tested positive for H5N1, the bird flu virus. But Cindy, a sleek gray tabby, is feeling fine, according to Mark McAfee, founder and CEO of Raw Farm, the farm where Cindy spends her days.
While Raw Farm does produce raw milk and cheese — including the milk allegedly given to the dead cats — the Fresno-based dairy has gone beyond retail to position itself as one of the biggest players in the raw milk universe, intent on proving its health benefits, spreading its gospel, and firing back against its detractors.
These are heady times for McAfee. Raw milk is an intensely visible part of the online ecosystem, with influencers singing its praises and downplaying the risks of unpasteurized dairy. In natural and holistic health spaces, it is viewed not just as a holy grail product, but also as a symbol of how many of its drinkers would like to see themselves: rugged, unafraid, and not averse to owning the libs.
In November, raw milk fan Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who McAfee says is a longtime customer, was tapped by Donald Trump to run the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Food and Drug Administration.
Bionutrient Food Association Aims to Increase Nutrient Density of Foods
The Organic & Non-GMO Report reported:
Dan Kittredge, executive director of the Bionutrient Food Association, grew up on his family’s organic farm in Massachusetts. His parents led the Northeast Organic Farmers Association of Massachusetts for more than 30 years. His mother, Julie Rawson, was the founding executive director of NOFA-Massachusetts and his father, Jack Kittredge, was editor of Natural Farmer news publication.
Dan followed his parents’ footsteps and farmed organically, but found it difficult to make a living because his farm faced pest and disease problems. This led him on a journey to learn how to grow plants that withstood pests and disease, and he discovered the importance of soil health not only to produce pest- and disease-resistant plants but to produce nutrient dense plants and foods as well.
In 2010, Dan founded the Bionutrient Food Association, which aims is to increase food quality. Today, as regenerative agriculture, with its focus on building soil health, gains ground worldwide, Dan and his association are seen as leaders in the growing movement to produce nutrient dense foods. Ken Roseboro, editor of The Organic & Non-GMO Report, recently interviewed Dan Kittredge.
Texas Dairy, Poultry Producers Grapple With Bird Flu
Just as quickly as the bird flu is spreading, the virus is changing. Nearly three years ago, a flock of pheasants in Erath County became the first case of the bird flu in Texas. Since then, the bird flu has mutated across species — including humans — and plagued chickens and dairy cows in the state.
Across the country, dairy producers have had to dump milk to avoid contamination. Infected chickens have been killed, including millions of egg-laying hens, causing egg prices to skyrocket.
“It’s a supply and demand issue,” said JC Essler, executive vice president of the Texas Poultry Federation. “When we’re putting multiple flocks down, and our layer operations can be up to a million birds, you’re taking a substantial supply out of the market.”
The speed the virus is spreading — and the impacts it has on everyone’s wallets — is unlikely to change anytime soon.
New Strain of Bird Flu Confirmed in US
A new strain of bird flu has been confirmed at a duck farm in California, the first time the variant has been discovered in poultry in the U.S., an international agency said.
A report by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), which AFP saw on Tuesday, said “highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N9” had been confirmed in a commercial duck premise in Merced County, California. “This is the first confirmed case of HPAI H5N9 in poultry in the United States,” said Paris-based WOAH, which monitors animal diseases worldwide.
It said the outbreak, whose origin was unknown, was confirmed on Jan. 13 and all 119,000 poultry at the farm in question had been culled.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is widespread among animals in the U.S., was also registered at the farm. U.S. animal health officials were conducting “comprehensive epidemiological investigations” and had increased surveillance in response to the outbreak, the WOAH said.
Do Food Warning Labels Actually Work? Answering Your Questions.
Readers had a lot to say about my latest column on the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed front-of-package labels. Most were in favor of the change and agreed that, if finalized, the labels would help them make better-informed nutrition choices.
Some, however, were more skeptical. “Companies are always one step ahead of the government,” wrote Jim from Illinois. “If you say to them that they will get a ‘high’ rating for sugar, they will just replace the sugar with artificial sweeteners, which are chemicals that aren’t exactly good for health.”
Anna Grummon, director of the Stanford Food Policy Lab, told me that is precisely what happened in Chile and Peru: After those countries required warning labels on foods with high sugar content, some companies replaced sugar with artificial sweeteners. The way to address this, she said, is to require disclosure when foods and beverages use nonnutritive chemical sweeteners.
