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What’s Eating Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent the past week focused on a key part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda: changing the way Americans eat.
As part of his initiative, HHS launched a portal that tracks levels of chemical contaminants in foods Thursday.
“HHS is committed to radical transparency to give Americans authentic, informed consent about what they are eating,” Kennedy said in a statement. The new food portal comes on the heels of several other food-related activities Kennedy has been involved in this week, which have included:
— Ordering a review of baby formula ingredients.
— Visiting a Head Start program where he encouraged all programs to switch from serving low-fat dairy to whole milk.
— Appearing on Fox and Friends on Thursday, saying the U.S. would review all food ingredients to ensure their safety. “In this country, food ingredients are innocent until proven guilty. In Europe and other countries, they have to prove themselves safe before you add them,” he said. “And we ought to have that kind of protection for American citizens.”
— Bringing ally and entrepreneur Calley Means on as a special government employee, where he’s expected to play a central role in developing Kennedy’s MAHA agenda on food and nutrition.
Food Industry Mounts Pushback Against RFK Jr.’s Artificial Dye Crackdown
The U.S. food industry is firmly opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s aggressive effort to eliminate artificial dyes, following his March 10 meeting with executives from major companies like PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz and General Mills.
As U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Kennedy demanded that companies remove dyes from their products by the end of his 2029 term — or face federal intervention. The Consumer Brands Association, a prominent trade organization representing major food companies, has issued an alert about upcoming regulatory actions that it considers imminent, indicating opposition from the industry to what it views as excessive government interference.
This clash follows West Virginia’s House Bill 2354, which was opposed by the industry and will ban seven synthetic dyes and two preservatives by 2028. Kennedy’s national directive has intensified the tension, with food companies arguing that removing dyes like Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 would harm profitability, production efficiency and market stability.
US Agriculture Department Announces $100m in Funding for Bird Flu Vaccine Research
As a bird flu outbreak continues to run rampant through U.S. poultry farms, pushing eggs to record-high prices, federal officials announced funding for avian influenza research projects, including money for new vaccine projects and potential treatments.
The U.S. agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, said on Thursday that her department would invest $100m in these research efforts, as part of a $1bn initiative to fight bird flu and stop rising egg prices, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
The funds will prioritize research into bird flu generally and biosecurity plans. “Our pilot programs have proven that biosecurity is the most important thing that our farmers can do to protect our flocks against the disease, at least right now,” the news outlet quoted Rollins as saying.
While Rollins underscored that there were no approved vaccines to prevent bird flu, she reportedly said: “I do look forward to this next process of learning more, getting more research done and perhaps seeing what makes sense for the country moving forward, once that is concluded.”
With Lab-Grown Meat Production on the Rise in NC, Legislators Call for Better Food Labeling
The Carolina Journal reported:
North Carolina legislators on both sides of the political aisle revealed an appetite for better food labeling on Wednesday, approving legislation that would make consumers more aware of what they purchase at the grocery store.
The Republican-led bill (House Bill 134) would prohibit the misbranding of meat and poultry products by requiring clear labels on lab-grown meat. Specifically, if a company sells cell-cultured food products that use meat or poultry marketing terms to describe it, the packaging must clearly indicate its lab-grown origins with terms such as “cell-cultured,” “fake,” “grown in a lab,” or “lab-grown.”
Furthermore, the clarifying term must be in close proximity to the name of the product and in at least 20 point font or the size of the surrounding type, whichever is greater.
“There was talk in a lot of different circles about going the banning route. Some of us thought that that would be too extreme,” said Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin. “What we want is the consumer informed, and to the best of our ability, that’s what this bill does. It says properly label it, and if Mr. or Mrs. consumer decides to purchase it, that’s their right.”
Mexico Rejects U.S. Forcing Genetically Engineered Corn on Country Under Trade Agreement
Sin maíz, no hay país — “Without corn, there is no country” (Mexican saying)
In the face of U.S. efforts to require Mexico, under a trade agreement, to import genetically engineered corn, last week the Mexican legislature approved a constitutional amendment identifying native corn as “an element of national identity” and banning the planting of GE seeds. This brings to a head a clash over issues of food sovereignty and security, genetic integrity, health protection, and environmental safety.
In 2020, the Mexican government committed to phasing out the importation of genetically engineered (GE) corn by 2024. Mexico had also planned to ban by April 1, 2025, the weed killer glyphosate, integral to GE corn production — but recently delayed its decision. These actions by Mexico triggered vigorous pushback by the U.S., resulting in the formation of a panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to decide which country was in the right.
The USMCA, negotiated in 2018 during President Trump’s first term, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under USMCA, parties can adopt measures to protect human animal or plant life or health. However, in Dec. 2024, the USMCA panel ruled in favor of the U.S., rejecting Mexico’s comprehensive scientific analysis in support of its position that GE corn presents unacceptable risks to Mexico’s 9,000 years of indigenous stewardship of carefully bred and wild varieties of corn.
The constitutional amendment adopted last week does not ban all GE corn products, only seeds, and therefore complies with the panel’s decision. Mexico is allowing the continued importation of $5 billion of U.S. GE corn, most of which is used for livestock.
Kenya Court Rules Against GMO Corn Imports, Major Win for Food Sovereignty
In a major win for small-scale food producers and peasant farmers in Kenya, “the Kenya Court of Appeal blocked the Kenyan government from importing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country[,]” according to a press release by Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa — an alliance of organizations and movements across the continent advocating for agroecology and food sovereignty.
“We celebrate this ruling as a major victory for small-scale farmers across Kenya,” said David Otieno, a small-scale farmer and member of the Kenyan Peasants League, a social movement consisting of consumers, farmers, pastoralists, and fishers rallying against the multinational corporate takeover of food systems in Kenya. Mr. Otieno continued: “GMOs are not the solution to food insecurity in our country. Instead, they deepen dependency on multinational agribusinesses, threaten biodiversity, and compromise farmers’ ability to control their food systems.”
Genetically engineered seeds are designed to be resistant to commonly used pesticides, including the weedkiller glyphosate, which locks farmers into dependence on multinational corporations rather than their own ability to practice seed saving and enhance their food sovereignty. This battle for control over the ownership of land and seeds in Kenya resonates with the growing movement of consumers, farmers, land stewards, and public health professionals in the U.S. facing similar industry-fed arguments about the necessity for pesticide use in agriculture as a matter of food insecurity and national security.
Despite industry and government claims of increased productivity and reduced pest control costs, GMO cropping systems have led to a dramatic increase in the use of herbicides and the fast development of weed and insect resistance.
