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Since taking office, HHS Secretary robert f kennedy jr has launched an aggressive campaign against ultra-processed foodsWhich he says is poisoning the Americans. Now, the food industry is hitting back, arguing that Kennedy’s proposed rules would grocery prices And even more.
In October, food companies and major industry groups formed an alliance Americans called for ingredient transparency to lobby against federal food regulation, according to politico,
The group – which includes Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and PepsiCo – has argued that state regulations pushed by Kennedy and his make america healthy again Associates will raise affordability concerns.
“The mobility here is affordability,” Sam Geduldig, managing partner of CGCN, the Republican lobbying firm that represents Kraft Heinz, told the outlet. “You have an MHA movement that wants to accomplish one goal, and then you have the inflation, economic affordability issue on the other side that runs the opposite.”
Industry leaders are hoping framing their fight around affordability will resonate with voters — as it did for Democrats, who scored victories at the ballot box in several states earlier this year by focusing on economic concerns.
“President Trump is cutting costs and providing real relief for working families, but these well-intentioned state bills are creating a patchwork of labeling rules that could undermine his goal of lowering costs for Americans,” said Andy Koenig, a senior advisor at Americans for Ingredient Transparency. politico,
During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy told lawmakers that food manufacturers were allowed “mass poisoning American children.” And, in May he said, “It’s common sense ultra processed“A diet lacking in nutrients contributes to chronic disease.”
The former environmental lawyer is now seeking to tighten federal rules to ensure that food manufacturers face greater scrutiny if they change their recipes. Additionally, they have prompted states including Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas to create their own rules.
According to the outlet, this year, more than a hundred bills have been introduced across the country aimed at boosting nutrition by banning sugary drinks, synthetic colors and chemical additives, a huge increase from last year.
Surveys show that Americans are concerned about both ultra-processed foods and affordability.
According to an October KFF survey, a majority of Americans believe that highly processed foods pose a major threat to children’s health. And one in November politico Survey, Americans rated cost of living As the top problem in the country, grocery prices have been cited as the “most challenging” cost.
The newly formed Americans for Ingredient Transparency group — launched amid a period of record spending by food lobbyists — is already gaining influence on Capitol Hill.
according to the new York TimesSenator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, explored introducing legislation to create a federal food standards This would preempt state laws, but that provision was later removed.
But, the effort to exclude states from the regulatory process has received a major backlash from the MHA and other food safety advocates.
“A federal standard favors big multinationals with lots of money to lobby for less restrictive standards,” said Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation who researches MHA-aligned issues. politico“We view the state-by-state approach as an imitation of the checks and balances that our federal system was designed to create,”
Melanie Benes, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on human health, said that preventing states from regulating food would be “the worst thing” in terms of promoting food safety, claiming that industry leaders are engaged in a cynical ploy.
“It’s not about affordability,” she told the outlet. “It’s about maintaining the status quo.”
Many studies have shown that ultra-processed foods are associated with a variety of negative health effects. A 2024 review of 45 meta-analyses covering millions of participants concluded that diets high in ultra-processed foods increase the risk of death. cardiovascular disease 50 percent, obesity 55 percent and type 2 diabetes 40 percent.
Historically, state and local officials have moved faster than the federal government when it comes to setting strict environmental and health regulations. For example, the federal government didn’t ban trans fats until 2021 — 14 years after they were first banned in New York City.