Babies are not typically part of private meetings at the White House. However, when Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health, gathered a group of women earlier this month for a discussion on nutrition and other topics, a health activist who goes by the name “the Food Babe” was surprised to see President Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, with her eight-month-old child on her lap.
As several female cabinet secretaries looked on, the press secretary, Leavitt, shared her concerns that baby formula in the United States appears to be less healthy compared to Europe, where a recent study found that many varieties contain added sugars. Last week, Mr. Kennedy met with infant formula manufacturers and announced a push to expand options for “safe, reliable, and nutritious infant formula.”
The activist, Vani Hari, was thrilled. “It was such an amazing opportunity to see the solidification of the MAHA agenda across different cabinets,” she said, referring to Mr. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. She called the event “a dream come true.”
The meeting of “MAHA Moms,” as Mr. Kennedy calls his group of influencers and activists, was one of many carefully orchestrated events in recent weeks by Mr. Kennedy, who holds a unique position in Washington. A member of a famous Democratic family, he has attracted attention for his alliance with Mr. Trump, his tendency to promote controversial theories, and his support for what critics label pseudoscience. Despite this, he has also gained a dedicated following.
Even some of Mr. Kennedy’s critics acknowledge his focus on obesity and healthy eating. He has made powerful industries and government officials uncomfortable by using his position as head of the Department of Health and Human Services to address a variety of topics — promoting alternative remedies one day while criticizing industrial food companies the next.
Currently, both the government and private companies must contend with what is referred to as the Kennedy factor. To date, there has been minimal public resistance to his actions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted information about vitamin A on its website after Mr. Kennedy promoted it as a potential treatment for measles, which caused concern among public health officials who wanted him to take a stronger stance on advocating for vaccines.
A fast-food chain announced that it had “RFK-d” its French fries by replacing seed oil with beef tallow, despite warnings from cardiologists who argue that beef tallow could pose risks to heart health. Infant formula companies, which were under scrutiny during the 2022 formula shortage, have simply stated that they look forward to collaborating with Mr. Kennedy. After Mr. Kennedy urged food companies to eliminate artificial dyes from their products, he posted a video on social media saying, “They understand that they have a new sheriff in town.”
Mr. Kennedy declined to grant an interview.
It is still too early to determine if Mr. Kennedy will have a lasting impact or if his early steps are more about posturing than substantive change. The Trump administration is taking actions that seem to contradict some of Mr. Kennedy’s goals, such as disbanding an expert committee studying how to prevent a deadly bacteria from infecting infants — a decision that was linked to the temporary closure of an Abbott Nutrition plant in 2022.
Mr. Kennedy may also face resistance from Congress. His opposition to certain plant-based oils — such as canola, soy, and corn oils — and the ultra-processed foods that contain them, has alarmed Republicans like Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, whose constituents benefit from government subsidies to grow these crops.
Mr. Kennedy opposes these subsidies, and Senator Grassley has publicly urged him to leave agricultural practices to the proper authorities, such as the Department of Agriculture. Mr. Kennedy has agreed to this.
“That’s talk; I want to see what the action is,” said Marion Nestle, an emeritus professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. She questioned whether Mr. Kennedy’s efforts to change the food system would result in meaningful progress. “If the only action is eliminating artificial colors from food, that’s not enough.”
Public health experts still have serious concerns about Mr. Kennedy, particularly regarding his stance on vaccines. He has been criticized for his involvement in the spread of misinformation, especially during a Texas measles outbreak. Biomedical researchers argue that if Mr. Kennedy truly wanted to make America healthier, he should address issues like the erosion of scientific institutions in the U.S., such as the reduction of jobs and cuts to grants by Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency.
“I think he has to take responsibility for it; he’s destroying science in America,” said Dr. Walter C. Willett, a prominent nutrition researcher at Harvard’s School of Public Health.
However, as long as Mr. Kennedy stays away from vaccine-related issues, some surprising groups have shown cautious support for his ideas. Dr. Willett, for example, agrees with Mr. Kennedy that the National Institutes of Health should shift its research focus toward disease prevention. Dr. Nestle has also praised him for challenging the food industry.
“When President Trump announced that he was appointing R.F.K. Jr., he used the words ‘industrial food complex,’” she said. “I couldn’t believe that. It sounded just like me, and R.F.K. sounds just like me.”
At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Kennedy was identified as one of the top spreaders of misinformation by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which labeled him one of the “disinformation dozen.” His Instagram account was suspended in 2021 and reinstated in 2023 when he began his presidential campaign.
Now, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Kennedy has a much larger platform to influence American opinions and attitudes.
Many of his statements, however, have been criticized for being factually incorrect. For instance, he told Sean Hannity of Fox News that immunity to the measles vaccine decreases over time, claiming that “older people are essentially unvaccinated.” This contradicts the CDC, which states that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine generally offers lifelong protection, though mumps immunity may weaken over time. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, emphasized that “the data continue to support that the measles vaccine protects the vast majority of people for life.”
Last week, Mr. Kennedy proposed banning cell phones in schools, a concept that has bipartisan support. However, in addition to citing concerns about children’s mental health, he made another unproven claim: that cell phones “emit electromagnetic radiation” that can lead to cancer.
So far, Mr. Kennedy seems to be mostly bypassing government experts. He has not attended any in-person or virtual briefings with CDC experts on measles in Texas, according to sources familiar with the response. Instead, he only receives written reports from the agency.
An administration official confirmed that Mr. Kennedy meets daily with the leadership at HHS, the CDC’s parent agency, to discuss issues such as measles.
Health officials in Texas have expressed concerns about the mixed messages being sent by Mr. Kennedy. Dr. Katharine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas, said she has struggled to convince parents to vaccinate their children because they believe that vitamin A could be a substitute for the vaccine.
Mr. Kennedy’s supporters were excited when the CDC added a mention of vitamin A to its measles advisory. Del Bigtree, Mr. Kennedy’s former communications director, celebrated the move on a recent podcast, saying, “My God, do you see what a small step for mankind we just made?”
Mr. Kennedy is also receiving quiet guidance from some mainstream public health figures, such as Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, a professor at the University of Southern California. Dr. Klausner, who has worked with the CDC on disease prevention, is helping Mr. Kennedy find new members for the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, a group Mr. Kennedy believes is plagued by conflicts of interest.
He said Mr. Kennedy has given him just one instruction: “He wants highly credentialed, unbiased people who can look at the science objectively.”
Despite his promises of “radical transparency,” Mr. Kennedy is presenting a carefully managed image to the American public. Like President Trump, he communicates largely through social media and Fox News.
In many ways, Mr. Kennedy’s approach resembles Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, but with a twist: he wants Americans to have access to healthier versions of popular foods, such as Froot Loops with natural colors from blueberries and carrots, instead of artificial dyes, and French fries cooked in healthier oils like those used in Europe.
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign against seed oils has caught the attention of executives at Steak ‘n Shake, a restaurant chain that announced it would begin frying its fries in beef tallow, which Mr. Kennedy prefers, despite the lack of evidence suggesting that tallow is healthier than seed oils. “He says he’s following the science,” Dr. Willett remarked. “If you look at the scientific evidence, that doesn’t lead you to the conclusion that beef tallow is better than seed oils.”
The announcement was made on social media with a picture of a red cap emblazoned with the phrase, “Make Frying Oil Tallow Again.” Mr. Kennedy, who typically avoids eating French fries, visited a Florida Steak ‘n Shake with Sean Hannity and sampled the fries for the cameras.
“We’re very grateful to them for R.F.K.-ing their French fries,” he said.
Ms. Hari, the healthy-eating activist, called this announcement an “interesting example” of making incremental changes to improve the food system. She expressed her intention to push Mr. Kennedy to require fast-food chains to publish all their ingredients online.