May 15, 2025 – During a marathon day of testimony in front of committees in both the House and Senate, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that dealing with the health impacts of processed foods is now the first priority of the federal government’s most important food and health regulators and researchers.
“One of the big areas of neglect has been linking specific food additives and food processes to the chronic disease epidemic. NIH has neglected that area of study. It is now the central focus of NIH . . . and FDA,” he said, listing ultra-processed foods, sugars, and “10,000 additives” that are in our food as areas of concern. The agencies, he said, are “looking at the impact so that we can put accurate labeling on, and when they’re really dangerous, we can revoke their authorizations.”
Kennedy made the comments in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions during the second of two contentious hearings on Wednesday to consider changes to HHS funding requested in President Trump’s latest budget proposal. But lawmakers didn’t address changes like the budget’s proposed $18 billion in research cuts at NIH and $500 million in new funding to “MAHA initiatives,” focusing instead on topics including measles, vaccines, and drug prices.
Democrats primarily railed against Kennedy’s downsizing of the agency by 20,000 employees. They also highlighted recent cuts to NIH research as well as health programs for coal miners and 9/11 first responders, which Kennedy has since reversed. But they rarely let him fully answer a question.
When he did respond, he repeatedly said HHS was simply going back to pre-COVID staffing levels. (The Biden administration significantly increased staff at HHS, but the current cuts take staffing back to a much lower level, one not seen since the George W. Bush administration.) He also said he couldn’t answer specific questions about layoffs or the department’s reorganization due to the lawsuit brought by 19 states challenging the legality of those actions, but said “there were no working scientists fired,” which contradicts previous reporting. (A top processed foods researcher also resigned, citing the fact that “unbiased science” became impossible at the agency.)
Kennedy’s comments on the refocusing of NIH and FDA priorities were significant, though, given those agencies’ typical mandates, but he exaggerated HHS’ moves so far. “Twenty years the Democrats have said, ‘We need to revise the GRAS standards.’ I’ve done it in 100 days,” he said. “We’re getting rid of nine petroleum-based, synthetic dyes in our food. Twenty years the Democrats have been saying we want to do this, and I’ve done that in 100 days.” Kennedy directed the FDA to look into changing the GRAS process, but no definitive action has been taken; Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) is working on a bill that could help the process along. On food dyes, Kennedy’s current plan depends on getting food companies to voluntarily remove them. (Link to this post.)
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