The White House has told food industry insiders there won’t be any surprise regulatory crackdowns in the upcoming Make America Healthy Again report, according to three lobbyists familiar with the meetings.
The report, which is due Tuesday, is expected to focus on what Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already publicly promised to do: securing voluntary commitments from companies on the transition to natural food dyes, defining “ultra-processed foods,” updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, reforming the “generally recognized as safe” designation and limiting recipients of federal food aid from purchasing junk food with their benefits.
All of those goals will have significant implications for the food supply chain, from major manufacturers to agricultural producers. But going any further, lobbyists contend, will clash with the Trump administration’s broader effort to pare back excessive rules and regulations.
“The White House has certainly gotten the message, both from agriculture and the food sector, that they are on the edge of a nanny state,” said one of the food industry lobbyists, all of whom were granted anonymity to candidly discuss the conversations. “Like this is Michelle Obama on steroids. The message we’ve gotten from the White House is, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not letting the crazy people run rampant over the food sector.’”
