RFK Jr. on 60 Minutes: ‘Not Going To Regulate Ultraprocessed Foods’

Maybe the biggest takeaway from Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview with Robert Kennedy and David Kessler is this:

“I’m not saying we’re going to regulate ultraprocessed foods,” said RFK Jr. “Our job is to make sure everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public.”

That revelation was also one of the more conciliatory remarks this past Sunday (Feb. 15) when the CBS newsmagazine interviewed the secretary of Health & Human Services and (separately) Kessler. Interviewer Bill Whitaker noted up front Kessler was commissioner of the FDA during the 1990s – “when he helped expose how the tobacco companies manipulated nicotine levels to hook consumers.”

While the title of the segment was “Generally Recognized as Safe,” most of the discussion turned to ultraprocessed foods (UPFs). “Leading the charge are two men who disagree on pretty much everything else about public health,” said Whitaker, later noting that Kessler, a former pediatrician, disagrees strongly with Kennedy’s disbelief in vaccinations.

But Whitaker noted they have found common ground on “a 67-year-old government classification for substances in our food … GRAS, or Generally Recognized as Safe. “Kennedy and Kessler say it has allowed big food companies to use ingredients without a full government safety review and flood the market with ultraprocessed foods that now make up 50% of our calories and 60% of our children’s diets.”

Referencing Kessler’s involvement with the prosecution of cigarette companies, Whitaker asked how UPFs rate in terms of a public health crisis. “It’s as large, if not larger,” answered Kessler. “Not everybody smoked, but ultraprocessed food touches all of us.”

Back on the subject of GRAS, Kennedy noted, “In Europe, there are only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how may ingredients there are in American foods. The estimates are between 4,000 and 10,000. We have no idea what they are.”

The program then cited Kessler’s August 2025 petition: "Petition to Limit the Exposure of Refined Carbohydrates used in Industrial Processing in order to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease in Children and Adults." Although its title focuses on carbs, it questions the need for UPFs and the credibility or legality of the GRAS system.

There is a quick reference to the San Francisco city attorney’s December 2025 UPF lawsuit against 10 of the biggest food companies. Then Whitaker talked to Michael Pollan, who in the early 2000s wrote several books critical of the modern food industry.

At about the 12-minute mark, Kennedy made the remark we cited at the top, that he would not regulate UPFs. Kessler, too, softened up a bit when Whitaker asked if the former commissioner would like to see the CEOs of big food companies “come before Congress, raise their hands and be questioned like the tobacco industry was?”

Kessler dodged a bit, but offered, “I’d like them to understand the consequences of what they are doing and to do something about it.” And there it ended.

If we didn't make it obvious enough up front, you can view the interview here.