The Trump administration’s strategy to “Make America Healthy Again” will bypass aggressive action on farm-used pesticides or regulatory crackdowns on ultraprocessed foods, according to a draft document obtained by CNN.
The MAHA Commission, led by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is set to release in the coming weeks its finalized recommendations for addressing chronic diseases among American children. It is the second installment from the MAHA Commission, which in May issued a report laying out the main culprits it saw driving the chronic illnesses.
“President Trump pledged to Make America Healthy Again, and the Administration is committed to delivering on that pledge with Gold Standard Science. Until officially released by the White House and MAHA Commission, however, any documents purporting to be the second MAHA Report should be disregarded as speculative literature,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai said.
A former federal official familiar with the document noted those briefed by the White House on the report have said the policies in the draft document appear to line up with what they were told.
Kennedy has publicly railed against ultraprocessed foods, overprescription of medicine and Americans’ exposure to commonly used pesticides in commercial farming. Yet the draft MAHA document, dated August 6, stops short of recommending some of the MAHA movement’s key priorities — like targeting specific pesticides such as glyphosate — rankling many of Kennedy’s longtime supporters.
The draft report says the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency will prioritize research and precision technology that helps farmers reduce pesticide use. It also says the EPA “will work to ensure that the public has awareness and confidence in EPA’s robust pesticide review procedures.”
Hundreds of MAHA advocates signed onto a letter late last week that pressed President Donald Trump to rebuke a congressional proposal that would shield pesticide and “forever” chemical manufacturers from lawsuits linked to their products. The signees — which include former Kennedy campaign supporters, MAHA influencers and the nonprofit he chaired, Children’s Health Defense — argue that there is significant evidence that these chemicals are linked to cancers, liver disease and other complications.
That letter has since swelled to 350 signees, according to its organizers, who believe their efforts can pressure the administration to change the report before its public release.
“No one’s trying to take away farmers’ rights to grow food in a responsible manner. All we’re asking is that companies whose products cause harm should be held liable in a court of law,” said David Murphy, former Kennedy finance director and the founder of United We Eat, a coalition of farmers and healthy food advocates.
“That seemed like a reasonable request to us,” Murphy said in an interview prior to the draft MAHA documents’ circulation.
Commercial farming groups have argued against further pesticide regulations, and blasted the first MAHA report’s suggestion of links between chemicals such as glyphosate and atrazine and chronic health problems.
Those farm groups’ blowback prompted public assurances from Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that the administration prioritizes farmers and Americans’ confidence in the food supply.
Defining processed foods
The administration will launch awareness campaigns around the benefits of whole foods, but is not unveiling any regulatory crackdown on ultraprocessed snacks that were key targets of the initial MAHA report.
The draft document nods to new dietary guidelines, expected later this year, and an “education campaign” alongside their release.
The draft also cites a recent effort from the health and agricultural departments to define ultraprocessed foods, a first step in regulating their ingredients and marketing.
While the draft also suggests that the FDA will take an aggressive approach to authorizing new additives in ultraprocessed foods, it stops short of recommending any crackdown on current products.
Earlier this month, former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler proposed a much bolder approach to declare that widely used ingredients in processed foods, like refined sugars and flours, are no longer considered safe.
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