Latest news with #MakeOklahomaHealthyAgain
Atlantic
5 days ago
- Health
- Atlantic
The United States of MAHA
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent a lot of his time as health secretary on the road. Late last month, he spoke at an event in Baton Rouge and lamented how Americans have gotten sicker and sicker over the years. 'When my uncle was president, I was a 10-year-old boy—we had the healthiest children in the world,' he said, flanked by supporters in green MAHA Louisiana hats. The day before, Kennedy gave a near-identical speech in Oklahoma City, this time surrounded by people holding signs that read OK ❤️ RFK Jr. and Make Oklahoma Healthy Again. Kennedy traveled to both states to celebrate their efforts to take up his MAHA agenda. In Oklahoma, RFK Jr. joined the signing of a pair of orders that will begin the process of pulling fluoride from the state's water supply and blocking the purchase of soda using food stamps. In Louisiana, the health secretary was there when the state enacted a bill that forces food companies to put warnings on their products if they contain certain artificial food dyes, preservatives, or dozens of other additives. These were just two stops on a nationwide tour that has also taken RFK Jr. to several other states—including Arizona, Utah, and West Virginia—that are pushing forward with his ideas, especially on food. In some cases, Kennedy has cheered from afar: 'Texas is leading the way,' he posted on X last month, after the Lone Star State passed its own MAHA-style bill similar to Louisiana's. Though RFK Jr. has the power to enact monumental change, much of MAHA's actual successes at reforming the American diet haven't come from Washington. While states pass law after law cracking down on food, Kennedy's own biggest action to date has been relatively modest: a campaign pressuring food companies to voluntarily remove synthetic food dyes from their products. The states are out-MAHAing the MAHA king, much to his pleasure. To some degree, RFK Jr. was always going to need help from the states. Though he has repeatedly called for a ban on purchasing soda using food stamps, the health secretary can't make it happen without action from states such as Oklahoma. State legislators started introducing various MAHA bills right as Kennedy was being confirmed to his position. In March, Kennedy visited West Virginia when it became one of the first states to pass such a bill into law, banning seven artificial dyes from being served in schools. The laws in Louisiana and Texas are far more sweeping, among the most stringent food policies that have been passed by states in recent memory. In Texas, a range of products that include common food additives will have to specify on the package that they are 'not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.' Louisiana has a similar warning-label rule, and mandates that any restaurant serving food cooked in seed oils has to display a disclaimer in the store. Kennedy could enact similar changes nationwide, and could even outright ban certain ingredients, but so far he hasn't. Such actions typically require bureaucrats to first collect evidence that a certain food is causing actual harm, and outside groups have already gathered dossiers of scientific studies. 'All he had to do was swing and hit it out of the ballpark,' Jensen Jose, the regulatory counsel at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group that pushes for more stringent regulation of food additives, told me. By Jose's telling, Kennedy 'didn't even step up to bat.' Kennedy's strategy appears to be by design. Banning ingredients requires new regulations, something that the Trump administration disdains. In January, Trump signed an executive order requiring that for every new rule enacted, the government would have to shed 10. By regulating food through handshake agreements and relying on states to enact their own policies, Kennedy is getting his way without having to deal with all of the red tape. . There are other practical considerations: Although Kennedy talks about waging war with food companies, he is running low on infantry. Food regulations involve legal paperwork, and the FDA has been without its chief counsel since March. The FDA branch tasked with reviewing the safety of additives was thrown into chaos back in February, when a number of employees were fired—prompting the agency's top food regulator to resign in protest. In an email, a Health and Human Services spokesperson told me, 'Secretary Kennedy has led the national charge in demanding greater transparency and accountability from the food industry, and it is precisely because of his leadership that many states have felt empowered to act.' The challenge for Kennedy in realizing his vision on a national scale, of course, is that he also has to contend with states that are less enthused about the MAHA agenda. But it's possible that the state laws in Texas and Louisiana will have consequences for the rest of the country. (It's also true that some of what he has proposed—particularly around food dyes—has at least some bipartisan appeal.) Instead of dealing with the hassle of creating special packaging with warning labels to sell in Texas and Louisiana, food companies might just add those labels to the products they sell nationwide. Something along those lines has happened before. Across the country, foods occasionally come with warnings that they contain certain carcinogens after California enacted a rule requiring such labels. Or perhaps food companies will take out the ingredients targeted by Louisiana and Texas to avoid the warning-label requirement altogether. Kennedy seems to be banking on such sweeping change. During his appearance in Louisiana, he noted that the state's MAHA law helps his campaign of pressuring food companies to phase out artificial food dyes. 'The food companies are coming in every day and saying, Stop the states from doing this; we don't want to have a national product that has a patchwork of different states with different rules,' Kennedy claimed. The quickness by which states picked up this MAHA charge undoubtedly projects strength onto Kennedy during his negotiations with food makers. Some of the world's largest food companies, including Nestlé USA, Tyson Foods, and Kraft Heinz, have already pledged to remove certain dyes from their products in the coming years. But outsourcing MAHA to the states is hardly a surefire strategy for Kennedy. Some companies promising change may actually be waiting him out—banking on the idea that once Trump leaves office, Kennedy will, too. In the meantime, should the laws be challenged in court, they risk at least being partially struck down. In 2013, a Michigan state law requiring unique beverage labels was nullified after a federal appeals court determined that the legislation unfairly interfered with interstate commerce. Even if the laws stand, RFK Jr. might face some challenges. Warning labels on artificial food dyes might lead companies to swap them out for natural alternatives, but it's less likely to be the case for emulsifiers—another category of food additives that is targeted by the Louisiana and Texas bills. Emulsifiers are present in many ultraprocessed foods, and in some cases there is no easy replacement. The clearest way to get rid of emulsifiers would be a national ban. Kennedy can do that, but the states can't. The same is true with many other food additives that he—often incorrectly—says are wreaking havoc to American health. At a certain point, no matter how MAHA-focused some states become, Kennedy may actually need to get to regulating.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Governor reveals ‘Make Oklahoma Healthy Again' plan with RFK for bans on soda, red dye
Gov. Kevin Stitt, center, pens his name during a ceremonial signing of an executive order to "Make Oklahoma Healthy Again," as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, the nation's secretary of health, and other supporters look on Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — In a move quickly panned by licensed health care providers, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday that he planned to 'Make Oklahoma Healthy Again' by urging state agencies to stop supporting public water fluoridation, removing red food dyes from school and prison meals, and by asking the federal government to approve a request that bans food stamp recipients from purchasing soda and candy. Stitt's pledge came minutes after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation's secretary of Health and Human Services, criticized the state for having the 47th worst health outcomes during a raucous 'MOHA' kickoff rally that drew hundreds of people to the state Capitol. Oklahoma has become the latest conservative state to submit a waiver to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that seeks to ban the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using their benefits to buy sodas, candies and other confectionery items, Stitt said. Tax dollars will no longer 'continue to fund foods that are making people sick,' he said. State officials will also work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find more ways to promote healthly eating and to make food stamp funding go further. 'Eating healthy foods today is going to reduce health care spending and dietary related illnesses later on in life,' Stitt said. The Republican governor also said he's instructed the Oklahoma State Department of Health to stop recommending fluoride in public water. 'Cities and water districts, they can still choose to do what they want, based on their constituents and the science, but it's no longer going to be a recommendation for the state health department,' Stitt said. And Stitt said he's instructed all state agencies that provide meals to Oklahomans to discontinue their use of artificial dyes. He also plans to convene an advisory counsel to recommend other changes that can improve health outcomes across the state. Stitt's plans immediately faced criticism from licensed medical providers who showed up en masse at the rally, holding signs reading 'Support Evidence-Based Health Care', 'Encourage Immunizations' and 'Protect Medicaid.' Dr. Steven Crawford, chair of the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families, said it would be 'disastrous' for children's health to remove fluoride from water. 'We do know that appropriate public water fluoridation prevents cavities,' he said. 'And how do you help children get better nutrition when they don't have adequate dentition or teeth to be able to eat the food? So I am so sad that the governor is advocating removing appropriate fluoride from public water.' Crawford, who practices medicine in Oklahoma City, said fluoridation of public water and immunizations are two of the major health benefits over the past century and have been critical to improving the state's and nation's health outcomes. He said removing candy and sugary drinks from the list of approved food stamp items isn't inappropriate, but Stitt neglected to mention that many recipients already don't get enough resources to be able to buy healthy foods. The governor also didn't discuss increasing food stamp funding to ensure children are getting adequate nutrition, particularly during the summer months when they are not eating at school, he said. Kennedy, who participated in a staged, ceremonial executive order signing with Stitt, praised the governor's actions. 'I am so gratified by these actions that are being taken by Gov. Stitt to make Oklahoma healthy again,' Kennedy said. Spectators heckled Kennedy throughout his speech that focused on America's soaring rates of obesity, diabetes and autism, declines in the nation's fertility rates and a drop in American teenage boys' testosterone levels. Kennedy, who has been criticized as being a vaccine skeptic, did not mention immunizations during his address. At one point, a state trooper could be seen escorting two bystanders from the crowd after one began shouting something unintelligible at Kennedy. A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the encounter. Kennedy said when people ask him if he's taking soda and sugary drinks away from the Americans, he tells them that they should have the right to drink a bottle of soda. 'We live in a country where we have individual freedom,' he said. The federal government just should not be paying for it, he said. 'We're paying for them at the front end by buying soda for the poorest Americans, and then we're paying for it (on) the back end with this diabetes, for Medicaid and Medicare,' Kennedy said. 'And it doesn't make any sense. We are poisoning the American people.' He said electing leaders like Stitt will change the way we do things in the U.S. to give American children a better chance of growing up healthy. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Int'l Business Times
26-06-2025
- Health
- Int'l Business Times
RFK Jr. Admits Removing Fluoride From Drinking Water Will 'Probably' Lead to More Cavities in Children
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that one of the points on his agenda, removing fluoride from water supplies across the nation, would "probably" result in more Americans getting cavities hence worsening dental health in the United States. Kennedy appeared on Fox News with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Thursday in conversation with host Harris Faulkner. The two were hosting an event at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on the same day in order to begin the "Make Oklahoma Healthy Again" campaign focused on promoting "common-sense health policies, medical freedom, and a return to personal responsibility." "On the issue of fluoride, what has been the response from dentists in America who may be concerned that some children in lower incomes in particular don't get those dental preventative situations where they can go in and get their teeth indemnified and treated against cavities?" Faulkner asked. "Well, people will still get indemnified for it, to the extent that they are already indemnified. But you know, it is an issue. It's a balance. You're gonna see probably slightly more cavities, although in Europe, where they banned fluoride, they did not see an uptick in cavities. The issue is, parents need to decide, because science is very clear on fluoride," Kennedy responded. Social media users quickly took to online platforms to ridicule the Health Secretary's rhetoric. "Fluoride is safe and effective. RFK has no medical or Dental background that makes him an expert on Fluoride," wrote one. "On the downside there will be more cavities but on the upside there will be... um actually there is no upside," joked another. "More cavities for kids in families who can't afford dental care. And neglected cavities can cause other health issues with infections etc, not to mention leading to the need for more serious and expensive dental work..." noted a third. "So they admit that taking out fluoride is bad, yet they'll still do it. Morons," said a fourth. "Some dentists are excited. They will have a lot more business soon," said another. The American Dental Association has reiterated their support for fluoridating water supplies after RFK Jr. announced his intention to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to denounce water fluoridation. "As dentists, we see the direct consequences fluoride removal has on our patients and it's a real tragedy when policymakers' decisions hurt vulnerable kids and adults in the long term. Blindly calling for a ban on fluoridated water hurts people, costs money, and will ultimately harm our economy," said ADA President Brett Kessler, D.D.S. Originally published on Latin Times
