As the US health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr has long been pushing the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda. In his effort to expand the movement in the mainstream market, he announced on Wednesday the Starbucks menu would be undergoing a major revamp in ‘MAHA’ style.
Having met with Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol this week, he revealed “the company’s plans to further MAHA its menu” were underway. “I was pleased to learn that Starbucks’ food and beverages already avoid artificial dyes, artificial flavours, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial sweeteners, and other additives,” RFK Jr wrote on X. A spokesperson with the company also hailed the productive meeting, as per Axios.
In a statement addressing the crucial collab, the company said, “At Starbucks, we believe choice should come with confidence. Our diverse menu of high-quality foods and beverages empowers customers to make informed nutritional decisions, with transparency on ingredients, calories, and more.”
The latest collaboration between the US government and the coffeehouse company aligns with Kennedy’s plan of banning synthetic dyes from the US food supply and Starbucks’ very own menu changes. A week ago, the company tapped into health demands for protein drinks, announcing that it is testing protein in its cold foam as part of the ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan.
Aiming to counter the loss of foot traffic, largely fuelled by pro-Palestinian protests, the Seattle-based brand ‘Back to Starbuck’ rollout plans to cut down on “roughly 30% of its menu items by the end of the 2025 fiscal year,” according to Axios.
“We’re focusing on premium beverages rooted in customer trends and preferences,” the coffeehouse brand said earlier. The changes also aim to attract customers by simplifying the menu.
Despite the RFK Jr having made MAHA his brand, a significant majority of netizens couldn’t help but point out the underlying irony of him associating the concept of “health” with Starbucks, especially since its drinks are explosive combinations of sugar and caffeine.
Mr Kennedy, that's all great and all, but you do realize those drinks have an enormous amount of calories, which will do more harm than dyes and sweetners!!! @BioLayne should be chatting with these CEOs
— Trikee News & Sports (@TrikeeBreaks) June 18, 2025
Experts and netizens react to RFK Jr’s ‘healthy’ Starbucks claim
Dr Sandeep ‘Deep’ Palakodeti was one of the top commenters who didn’t agree with Kennedy. As the founder and CEO of Velocity Health Clinic and has earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees from Wright State University, he highlighted that there are 81 grams of sugar in Starbucks most popular drink. “Cool they’re not using dyes, or HFCS, I’m happy about that. But. This is not what we’re here to prop up. These companies should be shamed for driving the chronic disease epidemic,” he wrote on X.
Much like Dr Sandeep, another X user, among many others, called out the company for its high sugar content. “Bro, a typical Starbucks drink has more sugar than the daily intake.”
Republican Member of the Arizona House of Representatives Leo Biasiucci also branded the claim a “half truth,” adding “I way say that they do have better ingredients than most but they still have some work to do.” He backed his argument with multiple screenshots of the Starbucks website’s ingredients list filled with sugar, even more sugar, and then some more.
What does "avoid" mean? Use it here, but not there?
— Life in My Lane (@lifeinmylane) June 18, 2025
Address the "natural flavors" term, ban it, make them list all the ingredients that are hidden within this term. The below examples should list Vanilla as an ingredient, not a chemical natural flavor made to mimick it. pic.twitter.com/N4elbQ0Rhy
Another person took a sarcastic dig at RFK Jr and the company, saying, “Yeah, Starbucks drinks are super good for you.” An ingredient list plugged with the tweet showed a company menu item consisting of coffee frappuccino syrup (made of sugar, water, natural flavour, salt, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, citric acid) whipped cream (cream, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan), vanilla syrup (sugar, water, natural flavours, potassium sorbate and citric acid), caramel syrup (sugar, water, natural flavour, citric acid, potassium sorbate) and caramel sauce (sugar, corn syrup, butter – cream, salt) among other such heavy inclusions.
A fellow MAGA-truther even went on to lay out a ‘fact check’. “Starbucks’ claim of avoiding artificial dyes, flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners holds for most base menu items based on their 2025 ingredient disclosures,” the person wrote. “However, trace sucralose has been detected in some customized drinks (per a 2023 *Food Chemistry* study), and “natural flavors” may include up to 10% synthetic components (per a 2024 EWG report). Preservatives like potassium sorbate and emulsifiers like carrageenan are used, which some consider additives, slightly muddying the claim.”
And then another user said, “Mr Kennedy, that’s all great and all, but you do realise those drinks have an enormous amount of calories, which will do more harm than dyes and sweetners!!!” They further insisted that PhD-bearing Layne Norton, who is one of the top experts in nutrition and training for physical fitness should be the No. 1 pick to discuss such issues with CEOs.
No matter where this debate ultimately leads, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends setting a daily limit of caffeine intake for healthy adults at 400 milligrams. Meanwhile, CDC’s 2017-2018 guidelines said that the average daily intake of added sugars was 17 teaspoons for adults aged 20 or older.
Eat and drink safe. After all, your life and health are on the line.
