Food Lobbyists Plot to Have It Their Way With RFK Jr.
Although much of the early criticism of Kennedy’s nomination has focused on his skepticism regarding some vaccines, the nominee is a longtime critic of the food industry, which he says is a leading contributor to America’s obesity epidemic. In recent months, he has called for a crackdown on food additives, limits on certain crop protection chemicals, stronger guidelines regarding what he says are conflicts of interest among regulators and business, and a review of any substance causing, what he argues, Americans to be “mass poisoned by big pharma and big food.”
What a kook.
In videos that have gone viral this year, Kennedy has singled out ultra-processed food as a priority for what Kennedy has called his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda. In one video devoted to the potential dangers of Yellow 5 food dye, Kennedy stands before a table with Doritos chips and Cap’n Crunch cereal and claims the ingredients used in such products are one reason more than 40% of American adults are classified as obese by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The dye, also known as tartrazine, has been linked to behavioral problems in children and other health risks. The European Union requires child warning labels for products with tartrazine.
Kennedy has made similar arguments about the widespread use of seed oils – including those from corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and peanuts – especially in highly processed foods. Research suggests that high levels of seed oils, rich in polyunsaturated fat, can cause inflammation. America's overreliance on seed oils in fast food and snack products, Kennedy claims, is a major overlooked factor in the health crisis.
"Increasing number of voices on the right target the food industry," an October memo stated, which went out to clients that include McDonald’s and America’s largest candy makers. The lobbyists warned that Kennedy’s MAHA movement “had gained increasing momentum among conservative figures who have taken a more vocal interest in the way food is produced and regulated.”
Herein lies the problem with both sides of our bipolar political spectrum: the American public no longer possesses (and if they do, they're reticent to demonstrate their use of) discernment and critical thought.
Trump bad. Biden bad. Go team.
It's all incredibly unintelligent, and it's been disappointing to watch the Left tumble off that same cliff the Tumpets did years ago. But I've watched if first-hand among friends, neighbors, colleagues. If you so much as question the current state of immigration, in the eyes of many Democrats, you may as well be MAGA. If you agree with RFK's positions on food safety and public health, you're a vaccine denier. If you posit that the American economy rebounded fairly well from covid, you're a libturd (if you're talking to a Trumpet) or a neoliberal (if you're talking to a Leftist).