RFK Jr's MAHA commission report to spotlight toxins in food

Show Caption

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again commission report is set to be released by May 22, gathering data on how toxins may be contributing to widespread diseases.

The report will offer a comprehensive look at how Americans have become sick from exposure to toxins in food, environment and pharmaceutical drugs, Vani Hari, a food activist who will be at the White House for the launch of the report, told Paste BN.

For instance, it will highlight the toxin glyphosate. A 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that 87% of 650 children tested had herbicide glyphosate in their urine. The primary exposure to glyphosate, which is used in weed killers like Roundup, occurs through food.

“It is literally President Trump declaring war on the ultra-processed food and pesticide companies,” Hari said.

A poll showing broad support for aspects of the Make America Healthy Again agenda also will be released on May 22. Paste BN received an exclusive look at the results of the poll.

Just hours after Kennedy was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services on February 13, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, commission. Named for a catchphrase championed by Kennedy, the commission was tasked with studying the potential contributing causes for the “childhood chronic disease crisis” and producing an assessment within 100 days.

In April 2019, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released an analysis connecting glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and recommended monitoring children’s exposure to the weed killer. However, the Environmental Protection Agency has not taken steps to ban the pesticide, concluding that it had “inadequate information to assess carcinogenic potential.” 

MAHA RFK Jr.'s MAHA movement is coming to a state near you

Glyphosate is also used on crops such as wheat, oats and beans as a drying agent before harvest, Hari said.

Kennedy has long blamed the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries for Americans' high rates of chronic ailments like Type 2 Diabetes and accused the industries of profiting from keeping Americans sick.

Since taking office, Kennedy has announced plans to phase out artificial food dyes from the nation’s food supply and encouraged the removal of fluoride from drinking water.

He has also directed his department to conduct studies aimed at identifying "environmental toxins" that he blames for the rising rates of autism. 

Researchers have been looking into the causes of autism for decades; the CDC says that some people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a genetic condition, but other causes are not yet known. The CDC also says many studies have looked at whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism and "to date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with autism."

"Claiming that autism is preventable is not science-based, and places unnecessary blame on people, parents and families," Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America, said when the study was first announced.

Trump’s $1.7 trillion “skinny budget” proposal seeks $94 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, a reduction of about 26% from the 2025 level. Trump's budget cuts programs and staff at HHS agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, the president's budget aims to pump $500 million into Kennedy’s "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, which is geared toward ending what he calls the “chronic disease epidemic.” The program seeks to tackle the issue through nutrition and physical activity, and by cutting back on medications and improving food and drug quality and safety.

Poll: Republicans and Democrats agree on many of RFK Jr.'s MAHA agenda items

The right-leaning think tank Foundation for Government Accountability commissioned a soon-to-be-released poll showing strong support for ideas it describes as MAHA-aligned.

The national MAHA Agenda poll, conducted May 1-3 by the Center for Excellence in Polling, is based on 1,030 people likely to vote in 2028, out of which 48% identify as 2024 supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, 50% as Trump voters and 2% as other.

The 23-question poll covered a wide range of topics such as COVID-19 booster shots, drug company accountability, parental rights on vaccines, food labeling, safety and Medicaid and food stamp reforms.

The think tank's poll had several questions on what it calls the MAHA agenda, but many of them refer to ideas Kennedy has not specifically endorsed. Many of the proposals would require congressional action and have not been embraced by Trump or Republican congressional leaders.

The poll found that 88% of likely voters believe drug companies should be financially responsible for vaccine or medication harm, including 90% of Republicans and 87% of Democrats strongly agreeing. Kennedy has criticized laws that provide companies that make vaccines with protections from lawsuits.

On the question of requiring able-bodied adults without young children to work or volunteer for Medicaid eligibility, 83% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats support the measure. The budget legislation in the works from House Republicans includes a version of this requirement, which would remove millions from the low-income health insurance programs rolls − and which Democrats say would unfairly remove many who are eligible but fail to clear the new rules' bureaucratic obstacles.

More than 91% of voters support requiring hospitals to publicly post their prices for common procedures so patients can shop for the most affordable care, including 91% of Democrats and 92% of Republicans.

On 22 out of the 23 questions, at least 68% of the voters agreed on the MAHA-aligned agenda.

The measure with the least support is on the question of parents opting out of school-required vaccines. Only 50% of the voters are in favor of the measure, with 68% of Republicans and 37% of Democrats supporting it. ​

A measles outbreak recently killed two unvaccinated children in Texas. The CDC said the deaths were the first from measles in the United States since 2015. Kennedy, who is known to take controversial stances on vaccines, backed vaccination as a preventive tool during a measles outbreak, but said that vaccines should be left to parents' discretion. 

Tarren Bragdon, president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, called MAHA a "cultural awakening."

"Americans are sick of junk food ‒ and junk policy," he said. "They want action, and they chose leaders they thought would deliver on the MAHA promise."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for Paste BN. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

“