RObert F. Kennedy Jr., the choice of President Donald Trump to lead the American Department of Health and Social Services (HHS), has doubled in his opinion that ultra-transformed foods and food additives “poison” Americans during Two days of confirmation at the Senate Audiences this week.
Food manufacturers have been authorized to “poison American people in mass,” Kennedy told legislators of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on January 30. “It’s bad. It must end. And I think I am the only person who can end it.
The day before, however, while comparing before the Senate of Finance Committee, Kennedy reported that he did not intend to withdraw ultra-grease of the market, only to ensure that the Americans are informed of their Health effects. If he is confirmed, Kennedy would supervise agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which plays a key role in American food policy.
Here’s what you need to know about ultra-adjustment foods, and how Kennedy said he was planning to shape the American food system if confirmed.
What are ultra -processed foods?
According to some estimates, the majority of American food supply is ultra-transformed. But what exactly does that mean?
There is no universal definition of an ultra-suitable food, and even experts do not always agree on the foods that count. According to the most commonly used definition, however, ultra-transformed foods are those made entirely or largely from oils, sugars, attachments and ingredients that you would not find in a standard home kitchen , like emulsifiers and industrial additives. According to this standard, classic “undesirable” foods such as fries, candies and soda are ultra-transformed, but foods such as flavored yogurts, certain whole grain breads and non-milky milks.
What RFK said about ultra -transformed foods – and what science says
In the previous remarks, Kennedy called ultra -processed “poison” foods, blamed them for high obesity rates and suggested that they are a key engine of “the epidemic of chronic diseases” in the country.
He stayed with these characterizations during the interrogation on January 30. “American children have not suddenly become greedy and lazy,” said Kennedy, discussing obesity. “Something poisons them.”
It is difficult to say if such radical declarations on ultra-suitable foods are accurate, largely because of the great diversity of products that are part of this category, explains Alice Lichtenstein, professor at Gerald J. ‘Tufts and Dorothy University R. Friedman School of Nutrition of University of Tufts and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition of Tofts University and Dorothy R. Friedman Nutrition of Nutrition of Tofts De Tufts University and Dorothy R. Friedman from Nutrition from Toft Science and Politics University. It is generally true that eating a diet rich in minimum or not processed food – such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins – is better than a rich in industrially manufactured products, says Lichtenstein. But “until we started to accept exactly how we classify foods,” she says, “I don’t think we can assess the [scientific] The literature ”to definitively determine how ultra-transformed foods, as a category, affect health.
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Many studies have linked ultra-transformed food to health problems, including cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and mental health problems. But even some of these studies suggest that ultra-grey food is not the same. A recent study, for example, concluded that the consumption of a diet rich in ultra-transformed food increases the risk of dying by heart disease, but only certain foods, including sugary drinks, hot dogs and sausage, seemed to lead this trend. Others, including breakfast cereals, flavored yogurts and ice cream, were in fact associated with lower risks of heart disease.
When Kennedy talks about specific foods, his declarations are a mixed bag in terms of precision. He suggested that seed oils, such as canola oil, “poison” Americans and that it is healthier to cook with beef fat – an affirmation that Lichtenstein says that it is bad. Kennedy also prefers raw milk on pasteurized milk, even if the very health agencies that he would supervise while the secretary of HHS warns that she can spread the disease transmitted by food and perhaps even the bird flu.
Some of its other catches – that food colors are not safe, for one – have more traditional approval. The FDA, although it was still under the Biden administration, recently prohibited a dye used in certain candies, candies and cereals because it was linked to cancer in animals. (Some of Kennedy’s specific affirmations on dyes, including that they cause ADHD, are more controversial but not completely unfounded.) He also said that the consumption of many processed sugars contributes to obesity and heart disease, which is supported by science.
What Kennedy wants to do in ultra-transformed foods
Kennedy said during his January 29 appearance before the Senate Finance Committee which he did not plan to withdraw ultra-transformed foods from the market. “I don’t want to remove food from anyone,” he said. “If you wish … a cheeseburger from McDonald’s, Diet Coke – What my boss likes – you should be able to get them. If you want to eat hostess twinks, you should be able to do this.
According to his website bearing his slogan – Go to healthy America – Kennedy promises “to prohibit hundreds of food additives and chemicals that other countries have already prohibited” and “change Regulations, research subjects and subsidies to reduce the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of the domination of ultra-transformed food “in the American food supply. He also said that he would withdraw ultra-transformed food from school cafeterias, would work to remove food from food, including children’s cereals and reorganize federal health agencies working on food policy. “There are entire departments, such as the FDA nutrition service, which must go there, which does not do their job,” he told NBC in November. “They don’t protect our children.”
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Kennedy reiterated some of these plans before the senatorial finance committee, committing to “ensuring that our taxes support healthy foods”, “examine the chemical additives of our food supply” and “delete financial conflicts of interest of our agencies ”.
Neil Maniar, director of the Masters in Masters in Public Health at the Northeast University, said that he supports part of what Kennedy has offered, in particular by serving healthier foods in schools, ridding the offer Additive food has proven to be harmful and by improving the overall quality and safety of the American food supply. “There is certainly room for improvement,” he says.
But, underlines Maniar, it is crucial that all the actions that pursuing HHS led by Kennedy are based on a solid science and a consensus of experts, not a political ideology. This is a particular concern, he says, given Kennedy’s lack of experience in public health and the history of disinformation, especially around vaccines.
“I firmly believe that politics should not stimulate public health,” says Maniar. “Public health should be motivated by science, by what we know works, and our understanding and our partnership with communities.”
