Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has thoroughly alarmed the medical industry with his willingness to push back against its years of misleading the public. Now, the corporate food industry — or Big Food — is signaling its discomfort with RFK Jr.’s calls to ban harmful additives, crack down on seed oils, and change the way ultra-processed foods are made.
According to journalist Lee Fang, lobbyists for major companies like PepsiCo and McDonald’s are already meeting to strategize how to counter Kennedy’s planned reforms. One lobbyist representing snack and beverage companies even suggested using the federal funding process to limit what RFK Jr. would be allowed to implement into law.
Kennedy has criticized certain food dyes used in products like Doritos and Cap’n Crunch, and its links to behavioral problems in children and health risks that prompted warning labels in Europe. Opponents of Kennedy’s agenda assert that banning such food dyes and other chemicals from America’s food would be a major hit to the industry and force companies to spend vast resources adjusting.
Lobbyists are focusing on diluting RFK’s efforts by exploiting the breadth of his agenda, arguing that he will be too spread thin to implement them all efficiently. In addition, they are considering using the Senate confirmation process to extract concessions from Kennedy in exchange for securing votes.
Despite this, Kennedy’s ideas have gained traction in Trump’s coalition, especially among popular influencers like Joe Rogan, who has hosted Kennedy and others critical of processed foods on his podcast.
The new Make America Healthy Again agenda represents a sharp pivot from Trump’s first term, where regulations on pesticides and school lunch standards were relaxed in favor of business interests. Food industry leaders now face an energized Republican base increasingly aligned with Kennedy’s calls for healthier food and stricter regulations on Big Food practices.
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