The man President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Services continues to reveal more of his agenda.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose family name was near royalty in Democratic circles since the tumultuous 1960s and who left the party in disillusionment over the summer and ran for the presidential nomination as an Independent, is increasingly focused on improving the lives and health of American children. One of Kennedy’s widely reported objectives has been to decrease children’s intake of ultra-processed foods.
“We have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now,” Kennedy previously told Fox News. “We’re letting these industries corrupt our agencies and mass poison them.”
Dr. Marc Siegel, the senior medical analyst for Fox News, appeared on Fox & Friends Monday to discuss the HHS Secretary nominee’s plans to address the prevalence of ultra-processed foods, which currently make up 73% of the U.S. food supply. He said one of the biggest dangers in processed foods is dyes.
“Food coloring is a problem,” he said. “Red Dye No. 3 has been banned in Europe. They’re banning it in California. It’s been associated with cancer in animals.”
He also said studies have linked food dyes to hyperactivity in kids.
Siegel noted that Democrats and Republicans have advocated banning certain food dyes, but these efforts have faced strong resistance from the food industry and its lobbyists.
“There’s a concern here that if this ends up with more regulations, that will drive prices up—and food grocery store prices are already a problem,” Siegel added, noting that he agreed with RFK Jr.’s concerns about ultra-processed foods harming children. Some of the most harmful additives include MSG and high-fructose corn syrup, which directly contribute to obesity, according to Siegel.
Nitrates are another concern, as studies have shown they can cause cancer in animals, Siegel explained. He also highlighted the health risks associated with excessive sugar and salt consumption. “People just get drawn in to eat and eat and eat, and they gain weight,” Siegel said.
“When they gain weight, they get high blood pressure, they get diabetes, they get heart disease, and they have a risk for cancer,” he added.
The physician and Fox contributor nevertheless noted that there are a lot of regulatory hurdles that Kennedy Jr. will have to successfully negotiate.
“There’s pressure being put on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) by the food industry, by the pharmaceutical industry, by the lobby groups in Congress,” he said. “They have so much power, they pretty much dwarf the FDA.”
The goal isn’t to “shut down big pharma,” Siegel clarified, which also echoed a point RFK Jr. made during a previous interview with NBC News. Siegel pointed out that pharmaceutical companies are making significant advancements, including “tremendous new treatments” and personalized solutions driven by artificial intelligence and other biotechnologies.
But, he noted, the health care system tends to operate like a “sick care system,” profiting from people’s illnesses.
“They should give tax incentives for going on the treadmill or taking a walk in the morning or eating farm-to-table food or having more produce,” Siegel said. “We’ve got to go back to a healthier lifestyle, and then we’ll have less money spent on being ultra sick.”
In his interview with NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard, at one point it got a bit heated as the two discussed RFK Jr’s plans to recommend reducing fluoride in public drinking water.
HILLYARD: And so what does that look like without debating, without going back and forth on the science.
KENNEDY: It’s lowering IQ in our children.
HILLYARD: What would you — on January 2025 we’re 3 months away here, what would you actually do?
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KENNEDY: I think fluoride is on it’s way out —
HILLYARD: And how would you make that happen? This is your chance is what you’re suggesting to me. How would you make that happen?
KENNEDY: Listen to what I’m saying! And then I’ll tell you. I think fluoride is on the way out because that court decision, I think the faster that it goes out, the better. I’m not going to compel anybody to take it out, but I’m going to advise the water districts about their legal liability, their legal obligation to their service, to their constituents. And I’m going to give them good information about the science. And I think fluoride will disappear.
