Health activists continue to fight against processed foods within the MAHA movement
Health advocates, spurred by the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, are waging a war against processed foods, which are linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline and heart disease.
Dr. Joel “Gator” Walsh, a pediatrician and author, told The Hill’s sister network News Nation that many of these conditions are becoming increasingly common and manifesting earlier in life.
“I think the most obvious example is adult-onset diabetes, type 2 diabetes,” Warsh said. “It’s literally called adult-onset — it wasn’t something you really saw in kids, even 40 or 50 years ago, and now we’re seeing it all the time in kids.”
Since the 1970s, consumer advocates have pushed to ban the marketing of sugary, ultra-processed foods to children. Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s 2010 “Let’s Move!” The campaign and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s massive 2012 soda ban tried to stem the tide, but obesity rates continued to rise throughout the decade.
Vani Hari, author of “The Food Babe” vlog, is a powerful voice within the MAHA movement and believes that “change from below” is coming.
“It starts with mom, and that’s what’s happening, is people are looking at ingredient lists more than ever,” Hari said. “More than 60 percent of Americans now look at ingredient lists instead of trying to read ingredients labels.”
Although Hari is a Democrat, he previously called out former President Obama for what he said was a broken promise: failing to require GMO warning labels. Today, the blogger has the ear of Health of Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he fights for higher food safety standards.
“Now, more than 60 percent of American food companies have voluntarily said they are going to remove artificial food colors,” he said. “Huge companies like Kraft Heinz and General Mills and Kellogg’s and Tyson and others have made this commitment,” he said.
Hari cautioned that what he says is a renewed push to roll back state efforts to regulate and investigate these foods.
“There’s a new group called Americans for Ingredient Transparency, he said.” “It sounds so sweet and nice and like they’re trying to fight for the everyday consumer, but actually they’re trying to take away our state and local right to reform food chemicals, and that’s just one organization that’s come out recently.”
In a statement to News Nation, Americans for Ingredient Transparency said, “Unfortunately, states are now enforcing their own patchwork of conflicting ingredient regulations that have caused widespread consumer confusion.
“Our goal is to eliminate confusion and ensure everyone has access to clear information,” the group added.
