(AFP) – The Trump administration is expected to release as soon as Thursday a highly anticipated report outlining Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s priorities to “Make America Healthy Again,” with a likely focus on processed foods, environmental toxins, and vaccines. Kennedy has long emphasized the need to confront America’s surging rates of chronic illness — particularly in children — even as critics say he downplays the continued threat of infectious disease.
Since taking office, Kennedy has ordered the National Institutes of Health to investigate the drivers of autism — a condition he spent years falsely linking to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. He has also urged the food industry to phase out synthetic food colorings, a move with bipartisan appeal, though experts have criticized the administration for making the change voluntary.
Ultra-processed foods, expected to feature heavily in the report, are another area of broad concern as childhood obesity continues to climb. Yet the administration has simultaneously slashed funding for research aimed at improving children’s diets. Kevin Hall, a leading government nutrition scientist, resigned earlier this year, citing censorship by federal officials, he told The New York Times.
Even before the report’s release, it has exposed a rift among Republicans over agricultural pesticides — which Kennedy fought against as an environmental lawyer. The divide pits pro-industry lawmakers and lobbying groups against the “MAHA base” of vocal RFK Jr. supporters. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, said she was “deeply concerned” by reports the assessment “may unfairly target American agriculture, modern farming practices, and the crop protection tools that roughly 2 percent of our population relies on to help feed the remaining 98 percent.”
A key flashpoint is glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, long scrutinized by environmentalists, wellness influencers, and so-called “MAHA Moms.” “We urge you and the Commission to stand firm in the face of these demands, which seek to protect corporations at the expense of American families,” wrote a group of 360 Kennedy supporters in an open letter ahead of the report’s publication.
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