Washington D.C. – Suspected cyclosporiasis cases now top 20,000 amid the Trump administration’s bumbling response to the record-breaking food-borne illness crisis. But today was not the day Trump health secretary Robert Kennedy took any responsibility for opening the door to this major public health crisis with short-sighted administration cuts to CDC and FDA food safety nets.
Instead, RFK Jr. held yet another self-congratulatory publicity event ‘celebrating … landmark actions to improve the nation’s food supply and advance the [MAHA] agenda’ despite the reality: actual accomplishments on food policy that are few and far between and a growing list of MAHA betrayals. Kennedy also made new empty promises on supposed rulemaking down the road, which has already been met with mixed reviews from nutrition advocates: “That’s ALL??? What took them so long for something so simple and obvious?”
“RFK Jr.’s song and dance routine on food matters is really getting stale,” said Protect Our Care Senior Advisor Anne Shoup. “For over a year, RFK Jr. has repeatedly paid lip service to the MAHA agenda only for Donald Trump to turn around and sell out to his poison-producing corporate donors like makers of glyphosate and PFAS forever chemicals. Why should anyone expect this time to be any different? Kennedy’s food policy ‘accomplishments’ boil down to historic outbreaks of food-borne illness, more use of cancer-linked pesticides, and a revised food pyramid that few families can afford under persistently high Trump inflation. Is any of this worth ‘celebrating’?”
‘Major Food Policy Wins’? RFK Jr.’s Record Is All Sizzle and No Steak:
- All Talk, No Action On Synthetic Food Dyes:
- Associated Press, 5.7: “More than a year later, the FDA has not introduced any of the detailed, scientific regulatory documents needed to establish a safety issue with the half-dozen widely used dyes.”
- Consumer Reports, 4.21: “Despite a number of commitments announced by food industry giants to remove the harmful dyes, some major companies like Coca-Cola, Mondelez, and Unilever have made no concrete commitments. No drug companies have publicly announced plans to remove the dyes from their medications. … The FDA initially called on companies to voluntarily eliminate the use of six petroleum-based dyes by the end of 2026 … However, the FDA’s web page now says that the agency is working with the companies to phase out the dyes by the end of 2027.”
- Kennedy’s Food Pyramid Overhaul = $1,000 Higher Grocery Bills for Families: A market analysis released in April found Sec. Kennedy’s revised food pyramid is unrealistic for many families by raising annual grocery bills by nearly one-third, or $1,012 more annually. Indeed, grocery prices remain historically high — 2.7 percent higher than the year before – with beef prices at or near record levels and the cost of fresh vegetables skyrocketing. Data from Trump’s own USDA shows beef and veal prices were nearly 12% higher in June than a year earlier, while farm-level vegetable prices soared 59% year over year.
Appearing on The Bossticks podcast in March, Kennedy suggested ‘smart’ Americans “eat for $10 a day, three meals a day. Really good, tasty, delicious, wholesome, real food.” The multi-millionaire then offered this out-of-touch advice: “We don’t need more money, we just need to be smarter about how we buy and how we cook.”
- Nutrition Education in Medical School: STAT News, 7.27: RFK Jr. wants “medical schools to teach more nutrition. The vast majority of 163 M.D.-granting and 48 D.O.-granting schools aren’t yet part of Kennedy’s new initiative, including several leading institutions. So far, some 73 medical schools — 54 M.D. programs, 19 D.O. programs — across 36 states have signed on. Even as some medical schools heed Kennedy’s call for more nutrition education, several told STAT that they plan to steer clear of topics that aren’t backed by evidence, including some that align with the priorities of the Make America Healthy Again political movement championed by the health secretary.”
- Scrapping Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water: In May, Trump Health Secretary RFK Jr personally announced the administration’s latest finger in the eye of the MAHA movement: a major rollback of Biden-era restrictions on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water. These chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), “have been linked to cancer, immune system problems and infertility.” The deregulation plan is a major gift to Donald Trump’s big chemical industry mega donors, including DuPont, which was part of a $2 billion PFAS settlement last year and gave $250,000 to Trump’s campaign after the 2024 election.
- Bringing Back Cancer-Linked Glyphosate: In February, over MAHA objections, Secretary Kennedy unequivocally endorsed Donald Trump’s executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to bring back production of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup herbicide that has been repeatedly linked to cancer.
On June 25th, in the case of Monsanto Company v. Durnell, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of industry and the Trump administration, effectively granting big chemical manufacturers immunity from liability claims involving the cancer-linked glyphosate chemical found in Roundup pesticides. Even as MAHA leaders voiced extreme opposition to letting industry off the hook, the Trump Justice Department filed an amicus brief in support of Monsanto – now owned by Bayer — and Trump’s Principal Deputy Solicitor General argued alongside the chemical maker in court.
- Atrazine Pesticide Rug Pull: A year ago, RFK Jr. made bold promises to MAHA moms to restrict the pesticide atrazine linked to cancer, birth defects and low sperm counts. A year later, the Trump U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a ‘review’ concluding atrazine does not pose an extinction risk to any threatened or endangered animals or plants, which “effectively paves the way for continued use,” and continued profits for Trump’s chemical industry donors
OTHER BROKEN TRUMP PROMISES TO MAHA:
- Fast-Tracking Poisonous Flavored Vapes for Kids: In May, RFK Jr. dutifully followed Donald Trump’s order to push FDA Commissioner Marty Makary out the door for not moving ‘quickly enough’ to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products – a major no-no for MAHA leaders – after a $5 million big tobacco check to a Trump SuperPAC and fancy golf course luncheon between Trump and big tobacco/vape lobbyists.
- Gutting Pollution Protections: While MAHA leaders have spoken out about air and water pollutants, a recent report from Climate Power and Protect Our Care details how Donald Trump has eliminated 31 pollution protections that, together, were set to deliver $275 billion in benefits per year and prevent 30,000 deaths annually.
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