RFK Jr. Sets Meeting with Major Food Companies

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to meet with top executives from several major food brands on Monday, marking the first meeting between the new Health and Human Services secretary and the companies he has publicly accused of negatively impacting Americans’ health.

Expected participants in the discussion with Kennedy include senior leaders from General Mills and PepsiCo, according to four individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic. They noted that the list of attendees could still be revised.

Kennedy's decision to meet with the food executives came at the suggestion of the White House, which has encouraged Cabinet officials to engage with key representatives from the industries they oversee, according to one of the sources.

The meeting represents a significant moment for an industry that has often been a focal point of Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement. He has criticized major food companies for worsening chronic illnesses among children and has pledged to implement significant changes to the government’s stance on food dyes and other chemicals.

"Something is poisoning the American people, and we know that the primary culprits are changing food supply, a switch to highly chemical-intensive processed foods," Kennedy stated during a Senate confirmation hearing in January.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.

Concerns have been raised by major packaged-food companies and other participants in the food industry regarding MAHA agenda items, including the removal of seed oils and the prohibition of certain food additives. Additional topics likely to surface during the meeting may include ultra-processed foods and the Food and Drug Administration’s initiatives for front-of-pack nutrition labels.

This year, HHS and the Agriculture Department are also preparing to draft the next version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a process that occurs every five years and traditionally allows the food industry to influence school lunch menus and nutritional recommendations from doctors.

No immediate comments were received from General Mills and PepsiCo regarding the upcoming meeting.

The meeting concept was initially proposed among industry stakeholders in February and was prompted by the Consumer Brands Association, which represents packaged food and alcoholic beverage companies, according to another source familiar with the developments. However, as of Friday, attendees had yet to finalize a meeting agenda, a disagreement that is reportedly causing divisions within CBA’s board and could complicate the gathering.

“There is major concern that [CBA is] going to agree, as major industry players, to things that eliminate science from the FDA,” the individual noted. They further speculated that it’s “entirely possible the CEOs fall over themselves to agree to whatever MAHA asks them to do.”

Allen M Lee for TROIB News