Newly confirmed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday evening that he wants to see significant policy changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and school lunches, citing concerns over unhealthy food consumption.
Kennedy, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote earlier that day, discussed his priorities on The Ingraham Angle with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
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During the interview, he addressed criticisms that his proposals could be viewed as government overreach and clarified that his goal is not to restrict consumer choice but to promote healthier food options.
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“The one place that I would say that we need to really change policies is in the SNAP program and food stamps and in school lunches because there the federal government in many cases is paying for it,” Kennedy said. “We shouldn’t be subsidizing people to eat poison.”
SNAP, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides food assistance to low-income individuals and families.
A 2021 USDA report found that nearly nine out of 10 SNAP participants faced challenges in maintaining a healthy diet throughout the month.
Kennedy’s comments align with his long-standing concerns about the impact of food quality on public health.
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As Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows, over 100 million adults in the United States are classified as obese, with more than 22 million suffering from severe obesity.
Kennedy also emphasized the need for “radical transparency” in food labeling and production, arguing that consumers should be better informed about what they are eating.
“If you want to eat Twinkies, you ought to be able to eat them, but you ought to know what’s in them,” he said.
“So a lot of what I’m going to do is about radical transparency, about making people understand, allowing people to understand and empower them with understanding that if you eat that, it may seem cheap, but it’s going to cost you in the long run. You’re going to get diabetes.”
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Kennedy noted that the U.S. allows far more food additives than European countries, stating, “We have 10,000 additives in our food. The Europeans have 400. Many of the additives that we have are just illegal in Europe. We need to move more and more toward the European standard.”
During the interview, Kennedy also addressed concerns about seed oils, which he has criticized in the past for their potential health risks.
“Oh, we’re not going to take [Big Macs] away,” Kennedy said when asked if his policies would ban certain foods.
“If you want to eat a Big Mac, you ought to. But, you know, McDonald’s ought to be incentivized to use beef tallow when it’s cooking its Big Macs so that they’re good for people rather than using seed oils or some other cooking oils that are actually going to probably make you sicker.”
In an October 2024 interview with Fox News, Kennedy previously argued that seed oils and other unhealthy ingredients remain prevalent in American foods because they are “heavily subsidized” despite contributing to serious illnesses, including chronic inflammation.
Kennedy’s focus on public health became a key issue during his presidential run, where he frequently spoke about the long-term health effects of processed foods and government food policies.
After exiting the race and endorsing Donald Trump, the term “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) was coined as part of a broader effort to promote healthier eating habits.
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As Kennedy takes the helm at HHS, his stance on food policy is likely to be a central focus, particularly regarding government-funded nutrition programs.
His call for changes to SNAP and school lunch policies signals potential shifts in how federal nutrition programs operate in the coming years.
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