The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has championed the new movement “Make America Healthy Again,” abbreviated as MAHA. The program concept was formed in mid-2024 when Kennedy stepped down as a presidential candidate and announced support for then-nominee Donald Trump. The two then aligned and rolled out the phrase.
“The MAHA agenda is loosely defined. It does include a focus on food and nutrition, food chemicals, food dyes, and different substances that are allowed in foods in the U.S., but are not allowed in other countries,” said Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor-in-chief of Food Fix, and recently appeared on the “Dairy Download” podcast.
She also noted that the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) and school lunch program are a target where processed foods are proposed to be banned from school lunch programs, which would be a large change. Dairy is a key part of the school lunch program, and to meet USDA standards of the meals, processed foods are a part of this program, yet the definition of processed can vary. The lack of definition of processed and what is ultra-processed remains unclear and the impact of where a dairy product like yogurt will fall remains a challenge.
She also emphasized that the health classification of ultra-processed remains a topic of discussion. Scientists are debating on the Nova Institute definitions of the classification for ultra-processed foods, and how these foods are treated differently. Consumers do not have great ways to define these classifications of food categories.
“The bigger issue that MAHA is raising is why are we subsidizing any foods that could be promoting diet-related diseases. The fundamental question being raised, ‘Is this a good use of government money?’” said Bottemiller Evich. “I do want to be clear that you can’t block foods from SNAP nationally without Congress, but this could be a state-by-state. We could be looking at a future where states are experimenting with this.”
Bottemiller Evich also covered the fact that the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee submitted its 2025 report to the USDA and HHS. The guidelines are ultimately written by the government, where the USDA and HHS team up to finalize the dietary guidelines for Americans. A key issue to watch is the fact that the advisory committee didn’t recommend less ultra-processed foods due to the lack of clinical evidence. They have determined that there is not enough to remove these foods. There are many associations of negative health outcomes, and therefore, USDA and HHS could ignore what the committee stated and may order different recommendations.
An additional guest featured on the podcast on the MAHA topic was Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy for Consumer Reports. He said that it is a bit too early in the Trump administration to know where the true influence centers will sit and what it means for food safety. Ronholm also noted the intersection of food regulation, including the MAHA movement toward more regulation and the Trump administration's deregulation push overall, will put food and food safety at an interesting juxtaposition.
