An attendee wears a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) hat during a press conference announcing of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) intent to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation's food supply, at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 22, 2025. / REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

A commission led by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on May 22 issued a report that said processed food, chemicals, stress and overprescription of medications and vaccines may be factors behind chronic illness in American children.

The report, from the commission named after the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, social movement aligned with Kennedy, is focused on what he says is a national crisis of increasing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, cancer, mental health disorders, allergies and neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

"MAHA is hot," President Donald Trump said during a press event. "We will not allow our public health system to be captured by the very industries it's supposed to oversee."

Kennedy said there was consensus among the commission's members to prioritize what he called the ultra-processed food crisis and to work to improve the food American children eat.

The report also highlighted studies linking health disorders in humans and animals to the weed killers glyphosate and atrazine, but did not call for specific regulatory changes or restrictions on pesticides used in farming. It said the chemicals should be further researched. 

It criticized the U.S. approach to vaccines in children, saying European children are recommended to receive fewer. He called for study of the impact of vaccines on childhood chronic disease and of vaccine injuries.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has for many years pushed debunked theories about the safety of vaccines contrary to scientific evidence. As head of the agency, he has overseen cuts of about 20,000 of 80,000 employees due to layoffs and departures.

Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food and health watchdog, said the report recycles longtime concerns of Kennedy, from vaccines to seed oils.

"To the extent that they come up with good ideas, they're going to run into the self-inflicted wound of their own decimation of the federal workforce. Many of their better ideas will not be doable," Lurie said.

Many of the MAHA activists that surround Kennedy were present in Washington for the release of the report, which they largely applauded as a vindication of their work.

But, one such activist, Kelly Ryerson, who campaigns against the use of glyphosate-based pesticides, called the report “very cautious on the subject of pesticides,” adding that she’d like to see more Environmental Protection Agency action on the topic.

Bayer, which is involved in thousands of lawsuits surrounding its glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, said some details around pesticides in the report were not "fact based."

"We believe a fact and data-driven approach with robust science that follows international gold standards is necessary to support these important initiatives," Bayer said.

As an environmental lawyer, Kennedy was associated with three lawsuits related to Roundup, which is owned by Bayer after its acquisition of Monsanto.

ULTRAPROCESSED FOOD

The food industry has said that additives in packaged food have been thoroughly reviewed by regulators and help it remain shelf stable.

The American Soybean Association was critical of the report, which they said was "drafted entirely behind closed doors" and inaccurately suggests that pesticides and soy oils contribute to negative health outcomes. 

"We’re discouraging people from consuming heart-healthy oils and driving them to instead use fats that will make them less healthy and cost them more in the process," said ASA Director Alan Meadows, a soybean farmer. 

Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, told Reuters the report was "a devastating critique of what's happened to America's children." 

But she said, "to deal with the root causes of the conditions detailed here, this administration will have to take on Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, Big Chemical, and get coal-burning plants to clean up their emissions. A lot of this is counter to the MAGA agenda, and the decimation of federal agencies can’t help."

The report called for enhanced surveillance and safety research into drugs and childhood health outcomes and clinical studies comparing whole-food to processed-food diets in children.

The definition of ultra-processed food is hotly debated, while the report describes it as industrially manufactured products.

The report says that core products of so-called "Big Food", which typically references companies such as Kraft Heinz, Nestle and PepsiCo, are ultra-processed.

Kraft Heinz manufactures Heinz Ketchup and Kraft mac & cheese, Nestle produces frozen pizzas and dinners under the Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine brands, while PepsiCo owns Frito-Lay, a salty snacks business.

The report also cites infant formula as an ultra-processed food that is concerning.

FARM LOBBY PRESSURE

The May 22 report will be followed by policy prescriptions due in August. Trump signed an executive order in February establishing the commission whose members include Kennedy, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, other cabinet members and senior White House officials.

Before the report's publication, farm lobby groups had warned that criticizing specific farm practices could impede collaboration on the administration's health agenda and put food production at risk.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the lobby groups had strongly pressured the administration to not mention pesticides in the report.

EPA head Lee Zeldin said on a call with reporters that farmers are key partners in enacting the MAHA agenda and that any changes to pesticide regulations would need careful consideration.