RFK Jr. Says FDA Will Act on Ultra‑Processed Foods Petition but Signals No New Rules Yet

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the Trump administration’s FDA "will act on" former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s citizen petition seeking an overhaul of how ultra‑processed food ingredients, including corn syrup and other sweeteners, are treated under the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) standard, but he stopped short of endorsing the specific new regulations Kessler wants. In an interview aired Sunday and detailed by Axios, Kennedy said the questions raised "are questions that FDA should’ve been asking a long, long time ago" and noted that in October he ordered the FDA to review all existing GRAS affirmations, yet added, "I’m not saying that we’re going to regulate ultra‑processed food," framing his role instead as ensuring an "informed public." The comments come a month after the administration issued federal dietary guidelines that, for the first time, formally recommend Americans cut back on ultra‑processed foods, which CDC data show supplied more than half of daily calories for U.S. adults and children from 2021 to 2023. Industry group Consumer Brands Association responded that companies already follow FDA’s evidence‑based safety standards, while critics of Kennedy’s MAHA agenda say his progress so far has been limited to voluntary ingredient swaps unlikely to move U.S. health outcomes. Kessler, who battled Big Tobacco as FDA chief in the 1990s, told CBS he strongly disagrees with Kennedy’s vaccine stances but would "applaud" any real action against ultra‑processed foods, underscoring how this fight is becoming a new front in federal food policy even as Kennedy’s broader credibility remains polarizing online.