Crypto News: An RFK Jr./FDA Venn diagram

Hey, it's Anna in Virginia. The FDA and RFK Jr. are far, far apart in many respects on policy. But there may be some areas of overlap when it comes to the food industry. Before we get to that ...

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made it clear that he isn't happy with the food industry's influence in America, and President-elect Trump's promise to let him "go wild" on health and food issues has caught the attention of many.

Whether his Make America Healthy Again agenda will ultimately succeed or fizzle as the incoming Trump administration focuses on immigration and remaking the US government is anyone's guess. But there may be changes afoot either way.

The US Food and Drug Administration — in its own slow and bureaucratic manner — is aligned with Kennedy in some areas. One sweeping change Kennedy wants to see early in the next administration (whatever his role may be) is to get rid of artificial colors, singling out cereal.

The FDA is expected to take a position soon on red No. 3, the poster child for dangerous food dyes. It can be found in scores of things Americans ingest, from candy to cold medicine.

Consumer advocates petitioned the FDA more than two years ago to repeal its approval as a color additive allowed in foods, given that the agency prohibited its use in cosmetics in 1990 after studies linked it to cancer. California banned red No. 3 in foods last year, though companies have until 2027 to make the change.

When asked about that petition just before the election, Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the FDA, said he anticipated the agency would have a response "in relatively short order."

Jones didn't elaborate on timing, but he did lay out some priorities the FDA has for next year. Another issue that somewhat aligns with Kennedy's viewpoint is a focus on ultra-processed foods, though the two may diverge on how fast to move.

Kennedy has said he'll prohibit the use of ultra-processed foods in school lunches. The US Department of Agriculture is in charge of school lunch programs, along with states, so the FDA won't have any direct influence there. But Jones said a research goal for agency is to gain a better understanding of the relationship, if any, between ultra-processed foods and poor health outcomes.

"There have been a number of studies that have shown an association between ultra-processed foods and a range of adverse health outcomes, but we do not think any of them have demonstrated causality," Jones said.

The FDA plans to work with researchers at the National Institutes of Health to determine the best way to study the topic. For now, the US doesn't have a set definition of ultra-processed food. It's not clear if Kennedy does either. Those foods tend to include items like frozen pizza, soda, cold cuts and packaged snacks.

The agency has worked to remove certain trans fats, reduce salt levels and make consumers more aware of added sugars. Jones said those are all elements of ultra-processed foods "that we have a lot of confidence" cause health problems.

There's still a lot of time between now and January for Trump to change his mind on Kennedy. And there are a lot of topics where there's is little agreement between the FDA and Kennedy, like his anti-vaccine stance. All I can say is, I'll be watching this and much, much more. — Anna Edney

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