Time magazine had this great summary of today’s Make America Healthy Again report:
“The first MAHA report, released in May … mentioned ultraprocessed foods more than 40 times, blaming them for negative health outcomes in children. The just-released follow-up action plan, which outlines the Trump Administration’s strategy for fixing the problems … mentions ultraprocessed foods only once, pledging that government agencies would continue to try to develop a definition for them.”
Today’s follow-up to the first report, which then was subtitled “Make Our Children Healthy Again,” floated more than 120 ideas, the agency claimed, but was light on specifics of how they would be implemented. The May report was 73 pages; today’s, titled Strategy Report, was 19.
One novel idea mentioned was “HHS will undergo comprehensive reorganization to create the AHA [Administration for a Healthy America], a new agency structure specifically designed to coordinate and lead the federal government’s response to the chronic disease crisis through integrated prevention-focused programs and streamlined accountability for related programs.”
Reactions to the report included “disappointing,” lacking teeth” and "a lot of good talk about things they want to do” but lacking in how to execute. Paramount for those in industry, it does not include specific crackdowns on ultraprocessed foods or pesticides, which were hinted at in the first MAHA report.
Childhood chronic disease has been the key goal of these reports all along. Near the top, today’s report named four strategies:
- Advance research
- Realign incentives
- Foster private sector collaboration
- Increase public awareness
It identifies four potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease:
- Poor Diet: “The American diet has shifted dramatically toward ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), leading to nutrient depletion, increased caloric intake, and exposure to harmful additives.”
- Aggregation of Environmental Chemicals
- Lack of Physical Activity and Chronic Stress
- Overmedicalization
Most of the food-related talk was in a section called Historic Executive Actions: “Reforming dietary guidelines; defining ultra-processed foods; improving food labeling; closing the GRAS loophole; raising infant formula standards; removing harmful chemicals from the food supply; increasing oversight and enforcement of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising laws; improving food served in schools, hospitals, and to veterans; and reforming Medicaid quality metrics to measure health outcomes.”
Some of those achievements predate the report. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted, “Under this administration, we are not just talking about healthy outcomes; we are delivering them by securing voluntary commitments to remove artificial food dye from major brands, providing technical assistance to states interested in restricting junk food and soda from SNAP, and providing growers with new tools to maintain and improve soil health, including the introduction of a regenerative farming practice pilot program.”
It does promise to “Remove restrictions on whole milk sales in schools, allowing districts to offer full-fat dairy options alongside reduced-fat alternatives” and to “Eliminate mandatory reduced-fat requirements in federal nutrition programs to allow consumer choice.” The International Dairy Foods Assn. was delighted.
Critics also pointed out some ironies, action points that appear to contradict the strategies of President Trump or HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to cut funding and staffs to agencies and programs, undo regulations or to replace respected experts:
- “Putting gold-standard science … at the center of every decision.”
- Expanding NIH and agency research into chronic disease prevention, nutrition and metabolic health, food quality, environmental exposures, autism, gut microbiome, precision agriculture, rural and tribal health, vaccine injury, and mental health.”
- “The EPA and USDA, along with other relevant federal partners and in collaboration with NIH, will assess ongoing evaluations of water contaminants and update guidance” – although the EPA last week withdrew a proposed rule that would have implemented stricter wastewater effluent standards for slaughterhouse facilities
Today’s MAHA Commission press event included: Kennedy, Rollins, DPC Director Vince Haley, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, NEC Director Kevin Hassett, CEA Vice Chair Pierre Yared and OSTP Director Michael Kratsios.
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.