Policies enacted by RFK Jr have not delivered the expected results, but have instead hindered people’s ability to eat healthy

Cyclospora in leafy greens, E coli in frozen blueberries, salmonella in jalapeños – multiple food-borne illness outbreaks in the US, alongside massive cuts to food assistance programs and to the federal agencies charged with food safety, are showing the limitations of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, experts say.

“The policies that we’re enacting are the exact opposite policies one might look to to help people eat healthier,” said Jessica Knurick, a science communicator and registered dietitian with a PhD in nutrition science.

When Maha took power, Marion Nestle was hopeful. Perhaps the most prominent voice in food policy, Nestle has written several books and once served as a senior nutrition policy adviser at HHS. She hoped Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and his supporters would take on the food industry as promised.

“They’ve got the power. They’ve taken over health and human services. Run with it,” she remembers thinking. “They didn’t.”