Ridding Food of Synthetic Dyes Is ‘a No-Brainer,’ RFK Jr. Says

As promised, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services is going on the offensive against artificial food dyes, one of the most high-profile “Make America healthy again” initiatives of the new administration.

Getting rid of food dyes “is just a no-brainer,” Kennedy said on Tuesday after announcing an agreement with major food companies to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in food. 

Kennedy has been working on this for months, having had a series of conversations with food executives about altering their recipes.

“Nobody wants to eat petroleum. There’s enough science out there that we know it’s terrible for you, that it causes health problems, but also behavioral problems,” he added.

The HHS’ plan includes an agreed-upon schedule for phasing out those dyes, revoking the authorization for certain dyes and authorizing “four new natural coloring additives in the coming weeks,” according to a departmental press release. 

Kennedy believes that eliminating use of those dyes in food, as well as his efforts to investigate environmental factors behind autism, will do much to improve the health of Americans.

President Donald Trump “wants dramatic change in the next two years, and we’re going to deliver that for him,” he said.

Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who will also play a major role in the effort, spoke at the press conference of numerous studies tying artificial dyes to health problems.

“For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals. The scientific community has conducted a number of studies raising concerns about the correlation between petroleum-based synthetic dyes and several health conditions, such as [ADHD], obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, cancer, genomic disruption … and allergic reactions,” said Makary, formerly a surgeon and professor at Johns Hopkins University and its affiliated hospital.

“This administration is not interested in continuing down the path of doing the same old things as we watch our nation’s children get sicker. We need fresh, new approaches,” he said.

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