Posted on 03/12/2025 9:03:05 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told food executives that removing artificial food dyes is an urgent priority.
Attendees of the meeting with Kennedy included the CEOs of PepsiCo North America, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Tyson Foods, W.K. Kellogg and J.M. Smucker.
In January, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorization of one type of red food dye called Red No. 3.
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told top food executives on Monday that he wants “the worst ingredients” out of food and is willing to take action to get rid of them.
Removing artificial dyes from the food system is an urgent priority of the Trump administration, and Kennedy said he wants to do so by the end of his time in office, according to a memo summarizing the meeting sent by the Consumer Brands Association that was viewed by CNBC. While Kennedy said he wanted to work with the food industry, he also “made clear” that he would take action if the industry wasn’t proactive.
“It was a constructive conversation and we look forward to continued engagement with the secretary and the qualified experts within HHS to support public health, build consumer trust and promote consumer choice,” Consumer Brands Association CEO Melissa Hockstad said in a statement to CNBC.
Meeting attendees included the CEOs of PepsiCo North America, Kraft Heinz , General Mills , Tyson Foods , WK Kellogg , J.M. Smucker and the Consumer Brands Association, the industry’s top trade group.
“We appreciate the Secretary taking the time to sit down with us and view the meeting as a productive first step in working with the Administration,” a PepsiCo spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
Bloomberg first reported details of the meeting.
Kennedy is at the helm of a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and tobacco products, vaccines and other medicines, scientific research, public health infrastructure and government-funded health care.
His so-called Make America Healthy Again platform argues a corrupt alliance of drug and food companies and the federal health agencies that regulate them are making Americans less healthy. He has pledged to end the chronic disease epidemic in children and adults, and has been vocal about making nutritious food, rather than drugs, central to that goal.
In January, before President Donald Trump or Kennedy took office, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorization of one type of red food dye called Red No. 3. The dye is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals, but was allowed to be used by food manufacturers for years because scientists didn’t believe it raised the risk of cancer in humans at the level it is typically consumed.
Kennedy, a notorious vaccine skeptic, is also making early moves that could impact immunization policy and further dampen uptake in the U.S. at a time when childhood vaccination rates are falling. He has said he will review the childhood vaccination schedule, and is reportedly preparing to remove and replace members of external committees that advise the government on vaccine approvals and other key public health decisions, among other efforts.
Beet powder is a natural source of red food coloring
Why do you want chemicals added to food ?
“Why do you want chemicals added to food ?”
I like to sort my M&M’s by color.
And pumping newborns full of pathogens,albeit weakened,is good medical science?
“And pumping newborns full of pathogens,albeit weakened,is good medical science?”
Who does that?
“Why do you want chemicals added to food ?”
Why do you want an unelected federal bureaucrat mandating what we can eat?
Is better when an elected government beauracrat mandates it?
Is that your stance, figures, what a clown 🤡
“Is better when an elected government beauracrat mandates it?”
Is that your stance, figures, what a clown
“ Why do you want an unelected federal bureaucrat mandating what we can eat?”
Mandating what can and cannot go into processed food is not the same as mandating what you can eat.
Red # 2 was dye was continued to be used in Canada. I am not sure if it still is. The Canadians thought we were nuts as there was no real science around to ban it. It was bright red, and you used far less of it.
The FDA pumped crazy high levels of it into rats at levels that were ridiculously high. I should know, I used to sell it.
and its good for you
“Mandating what can and cannot go into processed food is not the same as mandating what you can eat.”
It mandates what I cannot eat thus mandating that I only eat that which is non mandated.
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