Mark Smucker, CEO of Twinkies and Uncrustables maker JM Smucker, issued a strong warning to RFK Jr about ultra-processed foods
Twinkies bosses have issued a stern warning to Robert F Kennedy Jr over his strict views on ultra-processed foods.
Earlier this month, RFK Jr was hand-picked by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The nomination has raised concerns among health officials over the former presidential candidate’s proposed policies, such as removing fluoride from drinking water and claiming that vaccines cause autism.
Among the radical measures, Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda has proposed limiting access to soda and processed foods in school lunches because of alleged “chemical poisons” they contain.
He has also advocated for a ban on artificial food dyes and pesticides and is an outspoken critic of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, insisting that Americans focus on dietary changes to treat diabetes and obesity.
Mark Smucker, CEO of Twinkies and Uncrustables maker JM Smucker, said this week on a call with financial analysts: “We firmly believe that snacking continues.
“Consumers will continue to look for a way to reward themselves at different times of the day.”
While Smucker is confident that Americans will continue to buy ultra-processed products like Twinkies, he noted that the company could adjust some of the ingredients in its products to accommodate consumers taking weight-loss medications like Ozempic.
One of raw milk’s most famous advocates, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
RFK Jr has raised concerns about additives such as Red 40 and Yellow 5, both of which are listed on the Twinkies ingredients label.
He said: ‘We continue to conduct ongoing research into the impact of LPG-1 trends and what that could mean for our business.
‘We could consider reducing sugar. “There are a whole variety of innovations that we will apply.”
Kennedy still has to be confirmed by the Senate before he can be named HHS secretary. It’s also unclear what his specific policies will entail if he is confirmed.
However, it has expressed interest in limiting additives such as Yellow 5, Red 40 and high fructose corn syrup, all of which are listed on the Twinkies ingredients label.
Red 40 and yellows 5 and 6 are dyes used to give processed foods like Twinkies their bright colors.
They have been theorized to exacerbate attention problems in children, prompting EU regulators to require product makers to say that the dyes could cause “an adverse effect on children’s activity and attention.”
TO 2021 report A California Environmental Protection Agency study also linked artificial dyes to hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in some children, particularly those with ADHD or other existing behavioral disorders.
Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 also contain benzidene, a permitted human and animal carcinogen at low levels.
According to the FDA, ingestion of free benzidine increases the risk of cancer to just below the threshold of “concern,” or one cancer per million people.
Some states have taken steps to ban these additives, such as California which signed the California School Food Safety Act earlier this year. The measure prohibits Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 in foods, beverages and snacks served in most K-12 school cafeterias throughout the state.