Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has attracted immense controversy, cancelling potentially life-saving research, giving outright dangerous advice, and massively confusing the messaging surrounding vaccines.
Kennedy has an extensive track record of being a conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine activist, making him a poor pick for the job of health secretary. Case in point, the Trump administration recently gutted its childhood vaccine schedule, triggering a movement by a growing number of states to break with the official recommendations to protect children from preventable diseases.
As part of a separate battle with the United States’ notoriously ultraprocessed food system, Kennedy has also declared war on synthetic food dyes and unveiled new dietary guidelines urging Americans to eat more protein and less sugar.
While Kennedy may be the poster child for the expression that even a broken clock is right twice a day — it’s true that US diets are appalling — coming after the country’s much-beloved fast food industry has proven extremely unpopular.
Most recently, Kennedy took aim at popular coffee chains, telling a Texas crowd at an event last week that he would be going after them for stuffing an immense amount of sugar into their offerings.
“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,’” he told the crowd, as quoted by the Boston Globe. “I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it.” (Dunkin’ officially dropped the word “Donuts” from its name in September 2018.)
Kennedy’s singling out of Dunkin’ — per the Globe, a “Massachusetts staple” — didn’t sit well with the state’s governor, Maura Healey.
In a post on X, Healey replied to the Globe‘s reporting with an image that reads “come and take it” in capital letters.
Another account took the unrest a step further, turning the American Revolution political slogan, “Don’t Tread on Me,” into a meme that reads “Donut Tread on Me” in the coffee chain’s unmistakable font.
“This means war,” MeidasNews editor in chief Ron Filipkowski wrote in a post on Bluesky.
Others accused RFK Jr of causing trouble with an untouchable subject in politics.
“This moron has no idea how much of a third rail this is,” The Onion CEO and proud Massachusetts native Ben Collins wrote. “If he goes through with a public fight with Dunkin, he will never live this down. In the words of my people ‘f*** ya motha.’”
“Does he not know America runs on Dunkin’?” another user replied, referencing the chain’s slogan.
Kennedy has been working to reform a Food and Drug Administration database of food ingredients that are “generally recognized as safe,” which was originally started in the late 1950s, but has since ballooned to include ingredients found in ultraprocessed foods.
A recent investigation also found that over 100 substances of unknown safety were recently added to the list without alerting the FDA.
The White House is still pondering what regulatory action to take. Critics of the efforts to overhaul the database argue that the onus could fall on food companies to show that their offerings are safe, which could have major implications for the industry.
The vast majority of the US’s food supply is “ultra-processed,” meaning that renegotiating these terms would require an immense regulatory undertaking — and likely overcoming major resistance by corporations and lobbying groups.
That’s not to mention president Donald Trump himself, who has a very well-documented obsession with fast food.
While experts agree that stuffing caffeinated drinks with an immense amount of sugar isn’t a good idea, Kennedy will likely have his work cut out — and a tightrope to walk.
“I would agree that the idea of drinking a product that has 115 grams of sugar in it is a very bad idea,” author and nutrition expert Marion Nestle (who doesn’t appear to be affiliated with the corporation of the same name) told the Globe. “I would not recommend it.”
“But, the reality of the food supply is that sugar is in everything,” she added. “They want sugar out of everything? Fine, where’s the regulation? I want to see the regulation.”
Kennedy himself doesn’t appear to have a clear opinion on the matter, praising Coca-Cola for switching to cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup — both of which are sugar — and celebrating Florida Steak ‘n Shake for “RFK’ing the french fries,” referring to the company switching from seed oils to beef tallow.
More on Kennedy: RFK Jr Startled by Trump’s Ability to Remain Alive Despite Dumpster-Tier Diet
