President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has resulted in contrasting industry responses. Some stakeholders welcome Kennedy’s promise of reform to the department and its agencies, like the FDA. Others raise serious concerns regarding his lack of medical training and “anti-scientific positions.” Kennedy has shared several plans for the department, aiming to “make America healthy again.” For example, he called for reforming the FDA and eliminating its nutrition department, banning food additives, removing ultra-processed foods from school lunches, making nutrition education mandatory in medical schools and systemic fixes in the food system instead of relying on anti-obesity drugs.
