RFK Jr. Effect: McCormick Spice ‘Reformulates’ Food Products to Align With MAHA Agenda + More
Source: Children’s Health Defense
RFK Jr. Effect: McCormick Spice ‘Reformulates’ Food Products to Align With MAHA Agenda
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made it an agency’s mission to reverse the chronic disease epidemic by implementing the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, which aims to eliminate toxic food dyes and processed foods from the nation’s food supply chain. In response to the incoming HHS policy, one of the world’s top players in the spices, herbs, and seasonings industry has announced plans to reformulate its products to align with the MAHA agenda.
“We are seeing a tick-up in reformulation activity,” McCormick & Co. CEO Brendan Foley told analysts in an earnings call. He said the company’s initiative was occurring “across our customer base, but also a lot of new product activity, too.”
The Hunt Valley, Maryland-based spice company is known for its black pepper and paprika products and iconic brands like Frank’s RedHot, Old Bay, and Cholula.
McCormick’s surge in reformulation activity only suggests that the company is getting ahead of RFK Jr.’s incoming MAHA policies, which focus on removing artificial dyes and other harmful ingredients from the food supply chain.
States Move to Ban or Restrict Use of Synthetic Dyes Used in Candies and Cereal
Synthetic dyes used to make brightly colored cereals, drinks and candies are coming under scrutiny in states across the country, where lawmakers say the federal government has stalled in taking action despite evidence of harmful effects.
West Virginia, which ranks at the bottom in the U.S. for many health metrics, became the first to sign a sweeping statewide ban on seven such dyes this week. Lawmakers in more than 20 states — from deep red West Virginia to heavily Democratic California — are making a bipartisan push to restrict access to the dyes, which have been tied to neurobehavioral problems in some children and of which U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been an outspoken critic.
“We should not be forced to police our own foods,” said Republican Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, who heads the Senate’s health committee and told lawmakers the vote might be the most important of their political careers. “No more toxic colors, no more poisoning ourselves and our children. No more unnecessary risks. Our health is not for sale.”
14 Food Chemical Actions RFK Jr. Can Take to ‘Make America Healthy Again’
Environmental Working Group reported:
The food we eat should be nourishing and safe. But thousands of chemicals, some of which may be toxic, are allowed in a wide range of products, such as snacks, bread and more. For too long, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed chemical companies to self-declare their chemicals safe for use in food.
Earlier this year, the FDA finally took a step in the right direction by banning Red Dye No. 3 from use in food. But that’s just the start. Many other toxic chemicals can still be added to food and food packaging, and the FDA should move swiftly to ban them.
If Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is committed to his pledge of “making America healthy again,” here are 14 actions he can take to make that goal a reality — banning 13 harmful food chemicals and closing a regulatory loophole allowing companies to claim their chemicals are safe.
Concerning substances remain in food sold throughout the U.S. Here are 13 chemicals added to food and food packaging that the FDA should immediately ban.
Residue From Human Waste Has Long Wound up as Farm Fertilizer. Some Neighbors Hate It
When Leslie Stewart moved to her home in a rural expanse of Lincoln County outside of Oklahoma City more than 20 years ago, she thought she’d found a slice of heaven. In a town of fewer than 700 people, her son could attend a good school and her acreage offered plenty of room to raise goats and let her dogs run.
But several years ago, her neighbor began applying sewage sludge, which consists largely of human waste left over from municipal wastewater treatment facilities, as a fertilizer on his farmland, causing a rancid smell so powerful it nearly took her breath away.
“The smell is so overwhelming that it goes through my oxygen machine and straight up my nose, which makes it very difficult for me to even walk out my door,” said Stewart, 53, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In the summer, the sewage sludge, referred to in the industry as biosolids, attracted so many flies there was no way to keep them out of the house. “They come through the vents. They come through the vent on the stove,” she said. “It’s just absolutely miserable.”
L.A. Fire Contaminant Levels Could Sicken the Marine Food Chain, New Tests Show
The Los Angeles Times reported:
Levels of lead and other heavy metals spiked in the coastal waters off Los Angeles after January’s fires, raising serious concerns for the long-term health of fish, marine mammals and the marine food chain, according to test results released Thursday by the nonprofit environmental group Heal the Bay.
For human surfers and swimmers, the results were somewhat encouraging. Contaminant levels from sampled water weren’t high enough to pose likely health risks to recreational beachgoers.
But tests of seawater collected before and after the heavy rains that came in late January, after the fires abated, identified five heavy metals — beryllium, copper, chromium, nickel and lead — at levels significantly above established safety thresholds for marine life.
Oklahoma House Passes Amendment to Regulate Labeling of Cultivated Meat Products
The floor amendment for House Bill 1126 passed through the House 86-7. The measure was originally introduced by Rep. Grego to prohibit the manufacturing, sale, or distribution of cultivated meat in Oklahoma, also known as lab-grown meat.
The amendment that passed would prohibit falsely advertising, distributing, or selling misbranded food. Manufactured protein food cannot have a label identified with a meat term, and must be labeled clearly from any product made from agricultural food animals.
If the measure becomes law, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry will investigate all credible complaints about falsely advertised food products.
Let Consumers Decide Whether to Eat Lab-Grown Meat
Protectionist policies threaten to impede the fledgling sector, which could play a key role in making the planet a greener one. The stretch of Interstate 5 that runs through the heart of California’s sunbaked Central Valley would be forgettable if not for the stench of manure.
Cattle ranches, some tightly packed with livestock, sprawl to the horizon. As demand for meat continues to soar, it’s hard to blame these hardworking ranchers for earning a living. Yet the risk such livestock pose to the climate is undeniable: A single California cattle ranch emits as much methane annually as 165,000 cars.
Statewide, cattle produce more of the pollutant than almost every oil and gas basin in North America.
