Whopper of the Week: Kennedy Fails on Ultra-Processed Foods

Whopper of the Week: 

KENNEDY FAILS ON ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS

“By April, [FDA] will have a federal definition of ultra-processed foods for the first time in history and as soon as we do that, we’re going to do front-of-package food labeling.”
 

-- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., February 27, 2026

SUMMARY

Last week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kennedy celebrated his 18 months in office by publishing a list “historic reforms.” The third item was “Winning the War on Ultra-Processed Foods,” right after the publication of the MAHA Report and new restrictions on food dyes. Kennedy’s war on ultra-processed foods (UPF) is a shape shifting affair, with sparse public updates on the strategy or objectives. 

When he came into office, Kennedy repeatedly said the food industry was “mass poisoning” the American public. This past February, Kennedy bragged to Joe Rogan that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would have a federal definition of ultra-processed foods by April. It is August and there’s no agreement on how to define or label UPFs. This is winning?
 

WHY IS THIS A WHOPPER?

According to Politico, food safety is popular across the political spectrum, with high support among the public for limiting dyes, ultra-processed foods and pesticides. However, Kennedy’s food safety track record in office is not impressive. Defend Public Health has already written about Kennedy’s weak attempts to phase out petroleum based food dyes, pesticides and glyphosate, a weed killer he once decried as a poison, as well as the Cyclospora fiasco.

As early as January 2024, Kennedy was telling podcasters that ultra-processed foods are “driving the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and all these chronic diseases.” When Kennedy was running for president, he promised to remove ultra-processed foods from school meals. At his confirmation hearing in January 2025, Kennedy again accused food manufacturers of “mass poisoning” American children. But he also said he did not intend to ban all ultra-processed food – which would be impossible because UPFs account for 75% of the US food supply – and would focus on public education and the removal of particular harmful additives.

The term “ultra-processed” was coined in 2009 by Carlos Monteiro at the University of São Paolo, who divided foods by their degree of processing and created the NOVA classification system. Foods are considered ultra-processed foods if they are made with industrial ingredients that are used to improve flavor, texture and shelf life.  

Concern about the health effects of UPFs certainly did not start with Kennedy. A randomized controlled trial by Kevin Hall, of McGill University, demonstrated in 2019 that people on highly ultra-processed diets consumed more calories and gained more weight than people on a matched diet of fresh and minimally processed foods. A growing body of research from observational studies finds that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mental health disorders. Defining UPFs and measuring their impact on health over long periods of time is difficult, however. Ongoing research on how UPFs alter food metabolism or the gut microbiome may in the future elucidate the causal links between food processing and disease risk.

Kennedy has certainly not vanquished ultra-processed foods — that’s a whopper. So far his greatest contribution is as spokesperson for the “Eat Real Food” Dietary Guidelines. The 2026 Guidelines explicitly tell Americans to “limit highly processed foods.” Dr. Marion Nestle, professor emerita at New York University, quibbles with how the guidelines define UPFs (and we’ve noted that the Guidelines have other problems), but she still concedes, “the very mention of processing in the U.S. dietary guidelines must be considered an important forward step.”

But Kennedy has no plan to regulate ultra-processed foods. For the last eighteen months, HHS and USDA have been developing an official “definition” of UPFs, deemed the first step prior to developing a national nutrition policy. At an August 10 press conference, Kennedy said the official definition had been submitted “for approval” to the Office of Management and Budget. University of North Carolina’s  Lindsey Smith Taillie worries that “indeed, it appears the food industry was the culprit behind this last-minute change of plans.” Kennedy’s plans may be on hold. 
 

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

After eighteen months in office, Kennedy has succeeded in achieving few of his goals when they collide with industry interests. Despite widespread public and even scientific support for limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods, the HHS Secretary seems not to have the president’s blessing to further regulate the manufactured food industry. 

Once again, states are leading the charge. This summer California became the first state to phase out harmful UPFs from its school meals, which the state paired with a program to provide two free meals per day for school children and an expansion in state food assistance programs. Many families across America are struggling to afford any food, let alone “real food.” Food policy must consider neighborhood availability, affordability of minimally processed foods, in addition to safety.

Marion Nestle makes clear that individuals cannot reduce UPF consumption on their own, and that industry will not voluntarily curb their production. Regulatory action will be necessary: “If objections to the guidelines from the food industry have been mild so far, it is surely because its leaders know that education is not enough to change dietary behavior. … But to really help people reduce intake of ultraprocessed foods, we need a wide range of policy options—taxes, subsidies, marketing, procurement, product placement—aimed at making healthier foods more available, accessible, and affordable.” RFK Jr. hasn’t come close to “winning the war” on ultraprocessed foods.

Contributions by: Benedicte Callan, Ph.D., Bruce Mirken, Aurora Horstkamp, M.D.