Skeptical health experts say they’re willing to work with RFK Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To become the nation’s top health official, his administration inherited a sprinkled list of ideas for it “Make America Healthy Again,” From banning drug ads on TV to easing restrictions on raw milk.

While those unorthodox proposals – and Kennedy’s Discredited views on vaccines – have dominated recent headlines, some of the more popular ideas gaining interest on Capitol Hill and across the US: making school lunches healthier, banning Ultra-processed foods connected with obesity and diabetes.

For decades, public health groups have called for similar steps, lobbying federal leaders and mounting public campaigns about the dangers of American diets loaded with salt, sugar and fat.

While facing Kennedy Senate confirmation hearings On Wednesday and Thursday, health advocates find themselves in an uncomfortable position: expressing cautious support for some of Kennedy’s ideas while warning of the disastrous consequences of others.

“If there’s an opportunity to advance public health, you have to take it,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official who now directs the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. “So you can’t ignore the guy on everything, because you oppose him on some things.”

Like many experts, Lurie says Kennedy’s record on vaccines should disqualify him from becoming health secretary. And he is deeply skeptical Kennedy can give his ideas about food and nutrition.

Kennedy’s confirmation is far from certain in the Senate, where he is expected to face questions from Republicans and Democrats on the House health and finance committees. Kennedy has downplayed his Long history in the anti-vaccine movementbut experts say this is where lawmakers should focus.

“The elephant in the room is vaccine policy,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Barack Obama. “In medicine we say, ‘Above all, do no harm.’ I’m certainly not convinced that RFK Jr. wouldn’t do much harm to our vaccine policy and our children.”

However, such concerns have not stopped some Democrats from finding common interests.

Former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan noted an op-ed last month Titled: “Hey Democrats: We Need to Work with RFK Jr. on Fixing America’s Food System.”

Sen. Cory Booker, a vegan, told reporters that he and Kennedy are “talking from the same playbook” when it comes to food reform.

Booker’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump and Kennedy are an unlikely alliance

Trump The unlikely alliance with Kennedya Democrat for life until 2023, reflects a diverse segment of Americans increasingly concerned chemicals in their food and water and distrust of medical experts, government officials, and large food and drug manufacturers.

Kennedy’s supporters The long Presidential campaign They included California parents concerned about food dyes in cereal factory workers and Midwest upset over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

But the clash between Trump’s anti-regulatory approach and Kennedy’s anti-corporate stance has many observers skeptical that much of the so-called Maha agenda will ever happen.

Requiring healthier foods in school lunches, for example, has long been opposed by the food and agriculture companies that have overwhelmingly supported it. OpenSecrets.org.

During Trump’s first term, political appointees School meal guidelines weakened presented as part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. The rules required schools to offer more fruit and vegetable options.

Making major changes to the federal program involves coordination between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services and dozens of state education programs.

“They don’t have the policy coherence to make it happen,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association. “People have been talking about improving the quality of school lunches for many years, but it takes a lot of money and cooperation to do it on a national level.”

Even seemingly smaller goals like Ban on potentially harmful food additives it would require new regulations and staffing at the FDA – which Kennedy has pledged to “clean up.”

American foods contain hundreds of ingredients that are not allowed in Europe because American companies are not required to seek FDA approval before introducing them. Companies can self-certify that new dyes or chemicals are “generally recognized as safe.”

Efforts to reform the decades-old system have been rejected in court and defeated in Congress, with support from industry lobbyists.

Seemingly popular ideas like discouraging ultra-processed foods can also prove unaffordable.

“I don’t think most Americans know that when you talk about ultra-processed foods, you’re talking about ice cream, frozen dinners, fast food,” Benjamin said. “Are we really talking about changing the entire American dining experience?”

Experts hope for the best, but prepare for the worst

If Kennedy is blocked from fixing the nation’s food system, he would still have plenty of other ideas to pursue.

“What we have is a bunch of good things that aren’t very likely to happen weighed against a bunch of bad things that are very damaging but are much more doable,” Lurie said.

Kennedy has threatened to fire hundreds of employees at the National Institutes of Health and FDA regulations for a host of unproven treatments, including stem cells, psychedelic and discredited Covid-era treatments like ivermectin.

Even seemingly small changes in vaccines can have harmful consequences, experts say.

Kennedy can distribute current federal vaccine committees and staff them with vaccine-hostile counselors. Currently, insurers must pay for children to receive shots recommended by those experts. But the bill would pass if Kennedy’s appointees refused to approve updated shots and immunization schedules.

For now, Georgetown University’s Larry Gostin says he and other advocates are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

“If he comes up with ideas that are good and actionable, I’ll be the first to applaud and get behind him helping them succeed,” said Gostin, a health advocate. “I’m just very skeptical that he’s going to do it.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.