Overview
- At a Heritage Foundation event, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said ultraprocessed foods are “much worse than cigarettes” and framed reducing their use as “spiritual warfare.”
- The new Dietary Guidelines from HHS and USDA emphasize protein and full‑fat dairy while urging cuts to ultraprocessed foods and added sugar across federally funded meal programs.
- The FDA’s proposed rule to tighten GRAS oversight is at the White House for review, and the agency is fast‑tracking vegetable‑based dyes with an aim to phase out synthetic petroleum‑based dyes by year’s end.
- Vaccine policy changes continue as ACIP prepares to revisit pregnancy recommendations at its Feb. 25–27 meeting after Kennedy replaced prior members and the CDC reduced the childhood schedule earlier this year.
- Kennedy highlighted most‑favored‑nation drug pricing efforts, stronger hospital price‑listing enforcement, planned rules to put patients’ medical records on their phones, and insurer moves to phase out prior authorization, while critics questioned industry influence on diet guidance and vaccine rollbacks.