Since President-elect Donald Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week, much attention has been focused on Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative.
One of Kennedy’s widely reported goals has been to reduce children’s consumption of unprocessed foods.
“We have a generation of kids swimming in a toxic soup right now,” Kennedy told Fox News earlier. “We allow these industries to destroy our structures and many are toxic.”
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Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, joined “Fox & Friends” on Monday to discuss the HHS Secretary-designate’s plans to reduce processed foods, which have been shown to make up 73% of the country’s diet.
One of the biggest dangers associated with the current food supply is food dyes, Siegel said.
“Food coloring is a problem,” he said. “Red Dye No. 3 is banned in Europe. They banned it in California. It’s been linked to cancer in animals.”
Food dyes have been linked to poor mobility in children, warns Siegel.
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Democrats and Republicans alike pushed for a ban on food dyes, the doctor said, but the food industry and food advocates fought back.
“There’s a concern here that if this ends up being more regulations, that’s going to drive up prices — and grocery store prices are already a problem,” Siegel said.
Some of the more dangerous additives include MSG and high fructose corn syrup, the latter of which “directly causes obesity,” according to Siegel. (Stock)
Regarding processed foods, Siegel said he agrees with Kennedy’s claims that children are “swimming in a toxic soup.”
Some of the more dangerous additives include MSG and high fructose corn syrup, the latter of which “directly causes obesity,” according to Siegel.
“We have to go back to a healthy lifestyle, then we will have less money to spend on serious illness.”
Nitrates are also a concern, as they have been shown to cause cancer in animals, the doctor said, along with excess sugar and salt.
“People are just tempted to eat and eat and gain weight,” said Siegel.
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“When they gain weight, they have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and they are at risk of cancer.
Siegel identified some key obstacles that Kennedy would need to overcome.
“We have a generation of kids swimming in a toxic soup right now,” Kennedy told Fox News earlier. “We allow these industries to destroy our structures and many are toxic.” (Stock)
“There is pressure being put on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) by the food industry, by the pharmaceutical industry, by lobbying groups in Congress,” he said.
“They have a lot of power, they are very tight-lipped by the FDA.”
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The goal is not to “do away with big pharma,” Siegel said, pointing out that pharmaceutical companies are “doing great things,” such as coming up with “big new treatments” and personalized solutions with artificial intelligence and other biotechnologies.
However, he noted, the health care system often operates as a “sick care system,” making money off of people’s illnesses.
“People are just tempted to eat and eat and gain weight,” said Siegel. “When they gain weight, they have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and they are at risk of cancer. (Stock)
“They should give a tax credit for going for a walk or going for a morning walk or eating farm food or eating a lot of food,” Siegel said.
“We have to go back to a healthy lifestyle, then we will have less money to spend on serious illness.”
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Overall, Siegel said, Kennedy is “on the right track” with his plans to fight unprocessed foods.
“Whether he can achieve it is a different story,” he added.
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