MAHA Says Goodbye to Fluoride, Food Dye

_WHAT’S HAPPENING_

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is rapidly advancing his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, marking major victories in food transparency, banning purportedly harmful chemicals, and eliminating wasteful spending. With growing support from both grassroots activists and federal agencies, MAHA bills are showing up in state legislatures across the country as HHS makes its own changes to reflect RFK Jr.’s movement.

_THE FACTS_

• The Food and Drug Administration, under Secretary Kennedy’s direction, is revising its long-criticized rule that allowed companies to "self-affirm" the safety of food additives.

• Kennedy met with executives from PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg’s, The Kraft Heinz Company, Smucker’s, and Tyson Foods, urging them to remove artificial food dyes and warning that federal action would follow if companies don’t act voluntarily.

• Steak ’n Shake has already announced it would switch from seed oils to beef tallow, prompting them to say they “RFK’d” their french fries; Kennedy later visited one of their locations in support.

• Several states are also picking up the MAHA mantle. Utah’s legislature passed a bill to ban the addition of fluoride to public water supplies, something Kennedy has long called for; if signed by the governor, Utah would become the first state in the nation to ban adding fluoride to water.

• In Arizona, Kennedy allies are backing bills that would ban artificial chemicals in school lunches and block federal nutrition assistance from being used to buy junk food.

• And in West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) just signed into law a bill that “prohibits harmful food dyes in school lunches and unhealthy food items for sale” in the state.

• The National Institutes of Health, part of Kennedy’s HHS, is ending over 40 research grants that aimed to understand vaccine hesitancy, saying it no longer aligns with agency priorities. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also reviewing data on possible links between vaccines and autism — a policy supported by the president but which sparks outrage from many on the left and in the media.

• Kennedy’s alleged vaccine skepticism has received renewed attention amid rising numbers of measles cases. Kennedy attempted to rebut these criticisms and express his concern for those affected by measles in a recent Fox News op-ed.

• Kennedy has also come under attack from some on the right over his support for Dr. Susan Monarez’s nomination to lead the CDC. Skeptics of Dr. Monarez’s nomination have critiqued her recent support for COVID vaccines for children and her praise of the Gates Foundation, causing Secretary Kennedy to defend her nomination, saying that he personally selected her.

• The CDC just announced it is pulling back $11.4 billion in pandemic response funds from state, local, and international health organizations due to the pandemic being over.

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