New York City, New York Nov 24, 2024 (Issuewire.com) - Robert F Kennedy Jr. has his eyes set on changing the regular American food and drink choices. Kennedy is President-elect Trump's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and he has long spoken against the American diet, from dyes and artificial colors in Fruit Lups to seed oils in chicken nuggets, ingredients that hurt the health of American people. "We are betraying our children by letting [food] industries poison them,” Kennedy said at a political rally in November. His was when he ended his independent presidential bid and backed Donald Trump for the US 2024 Presidential election.
However, turning this claim into a reality can take a lot of Kennedy's work. If he chooses to target junk food and its widespread popularity in America, he will first have to target American food regulations and then run against Big Food. “What he's suggesting is taking on the food industry,” commented former New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle. “Will Trump back him up on that? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
This former environmental attorney will have to face confirmation by the Senate to be able to lead DHHS in Trump’s Presidency. He is already considered quite a bit of a controversial pick given his history of making several baseless health claims. In the past, Kennedy has claimed that vaccines cause autism, and that Wi-Fi technology causes cancer. Yet, some of his ideas to reform the FDA have gained support from lawmakers, health experts, and concerned consumers, including some democrats as well.
This week, Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis wrote on social media that Kennedy Kennedy “will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA.” This indicates that Polis has welcomed his nomination. However, this caused Polis to receive a lot of backlash for praising Kennedy, which then made him qualify for his endorsement. He later wrote on social media that "science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy".
Leading up to the 2024 Presidential election, Kennedy, a former Democrat, offered quite a few ideas to tackle chronic diseases under his slogan “Make America Healthy Again”. Kennedy has also frequently advocated for eliminating ultra-processed foods and products altered to include added fats, starches, and sugars, like sugary breakfast cereals, crisps, and frozen pizzas. All these foods and products are linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Kennedy has also aimed primarily at school lunches, saying “We have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now,” to Fox News.
In some measure, his new mandate includes overseeing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which has more than 18,000 employees. The agency ensures the safety of pharmaceuticals and the US food supply. However, it 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. In several of Kennedy's public rallies, he has pledged to take a sledgehammer to the FDA, and fire employees he says are part of a "corrupt system". “There are entire departments, like the nutrition department at the FDA … that have to go, that are not doing their job,” Kennedy told MSNBC earlier this month.
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