Washington (AP) – When President Donald Trump typed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To become the best health official in the country, his administration inherited a sprawling list Ideas “Make America healthy” From the prohibition of television medication advertisements to the abolition of restrictions on raw milk.
While these unorthodox proposals – and Kennedy discredited opinion on vaccines – have dominated recent titles, a list of more familiar ideas has aroused interest in Capitol Hill and through the United States: to make school lunches healthier, prohibiting certain food additives and reprimand Ultra -proposed foods linked to obesity and diabetes.
For decades, public health groups have called for similar steps, to put pressure on federal leaders and to set up public campaigns on the risks of American diets loaded with salt, sugar and fat.
While Kennedy faces Senate confirmation hearings On Wednesday and Thursday, the defenders of health are found in an uncomfortable position: expressing care for some of Kennedy’s ideas while warning the catastrophic consequences of others.
“If there is an opportunity to advance public health, you must seize it,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official who now heads the non -profit center for science in interest audience. “So you cannot ignore the guy on everything because you oppose certain things.”
Like many experts, Lurie says Kennedy record on vaccines should disqualify it to become a secretary of health. And he is deeply skeptical, Kennedy can deliver his ideas for food and nutrition.
Kennedy’s confirmation is far from being certain in the Senate, where he should face sharp questions from the Republicans and Democrats on the health and financing committees of the Chamber. Kennedy minimized his Long history in the anti-vaccination movementBut experts say that this is where legislators should concentrate.
“The elephant in the room is vaccine policy,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Barack Obama. “In medicine, we say:” Above all, don’t hurt. I am certainly not convinced that RFK Jr. would not do much trouble our vaccination policy and our children. »»
However, these concerns have not prevented certain Democrats from finding shared interests.
Former member of the Ohio Tim Ryan Congress wrote an editorial last month Entitled: “Hey Democrats: We should work with RFK Jr. on the fixing of the American food system.”
Senator Cory Booker, a vegan, told journalists that he and Kennedy “speak of the same manual” with regard to food reforms.
The Booker office did not respond to a request for comments.
Trump and Kennedy are an improbable alliance
Trump Improbable alliance with KennedyAn always democrat until 2023, reflects a various segment of the Americans who are increasingly worried chemicals in their food and water And be wary of medical experts, government representatives and major food and drug manufacturers.
Kennedy supporters Long presidential campaign Included Californian parents concerned about food colors in workers at the cereal and midwest factory, COVVI-19 vaccine mandates.
But the confrontation between Trump’s anti-regulator approach and Kennedy’s anti-enterprise position has many skeptical observers that a large part of the so-called Maha agenda will ever occur.
Demand healthier foods in school lunches, for example, have long opposed food and agricultural companies that massively supported Trump in the last elections, donating to his campaign by a margin of almost 4 to 1 on Kamala Harris, according to the recordings compiled by Opensecrets.org.
During Trump’s first mandate, the appointments Weaken school nutrition directives Introduced as part of Michelle Obama “motion” campaign. The rules required schools to offer more fruit and vegetable options.
Bringing major changes to the federal program implies coordination between the Department of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and Social Services and dozens of state educational programs.
“They do not have political coherence to get there,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association. “People talk about improving the quality of school lunches for many years, but it takes a lot of money and collaboration to do it at the national level.”
Even apparently smaller lenses as Prohibit potentially harmful food additives would require new regulations and FDA staff – which Kennedy has promised to “have fun”.
American foods contain hundreds of ingredients that are not authorized in Europe because American companies are not required to request the approval of the FDA before presenting them. Companies can self-certify that new colors or chemicals are “generally recognized as safe”.
Efforts to reform the system of several decades were rejected in court and defeated at Congress, with the support of industry lobbyists.
Apparently popular ideas such as discouraging ultra -proproductive foods could also be untenable.
“I don’t think most Americans know that when you talk about ultra -proposed food, you are talking about ice cream, frozen dinners, fast food,” said Benjamin. “Do we really talk about changing all the American food experience?”
Experts hope the best, but prepare for the worst
If Kennedy is prevented from revising the country’s food system, he still would have many other ideas to continue.
“What we have is a bunch of good things that are very unlikely to happen with a bunch of bad things that are very prejudicial but which are much more achievable,” said Lurie.
Kennedy threatened to dismiss hundreds of employees from the National Institutes of Health and Slash FDA regulations on a multitude of unproven treatments, especially stem cells,, psychedelic and discredited treatments from the era of the coco Ivermectine.
Even apparently small changes on vaccines could have harmful consequences, according to experts.
Kennedy could dissolve the current federal Vaccination committees And staff with advisers hostile to vaccines. Currently, insurers must pay for children to receive photos recommended by these experts. But the requirement would allace if the named people of Kennedy refused to approve shots updated and vaccination calendars.
For the moment, Larry Gostin of the University of Georgetown says that he and other defenders hope the best but are preparing for the worst.
“If he offers good and usable ideas, I will be the first to applaud and get back to help them succeed,” said Gostin, a health lawyer. “I am very skeptical about what he does this.”
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