Americans are waking up to a truth they’ve long ignored: much of what they eat is quietly harming their health. From activists pushing Make America Healthy Again to everyday shoppers walking past grocery aisles, concern is growing over ultraprocessed foods, those colorful, convenient, ready-to-eat packages that dominate the shelves. These foods may save time, but they come at the cost of health.
Amid all this, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary, and Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner, usually on opposite sides of public health debates, have found common ground over a shared concern: a 67-year-old loophole called GRAS, or “generally recognized as safe.”
GRAS was meant to protect Americans, it allows companies to introduce new ingredients with minimal oversight. According to CBS, today, ultraprocessed foods account for half of all calories consumed in the US and 60% of children’s diets. That’s a staggering figure that should shock every parent, every doctor, and every policymaker.
America’s Food Crisis: The hidden danger on shelves
Dr. Kessler, who fought the tobacco industry in the 1990s, sees history repeating itself. Speaking to CBS he said, “Over the last 40 years, the United States has been exposed to something our biology was never intended to handle. Energy-dense, highly palatable, rapidly absorbable ultraprocessed foods have altered our metabolism and caused the greatest increase in chronic disease in our history: type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, fatty liver, heart attacks, stroke, heart failure.”
According to him, unlike tobacco, which touched only smokers, ultraprocessed foods touch nearly every American. And yet, until now, public awareness has been shockingly low. Kennedy added, “70% of Americans are either obese or overweight. It’s not because we became lazy or suddenly developed giant appetites. It’s because we’re being given food that is low in nutrition and high in calories. It’s destroying our health.”
The GRAS loophole must end
The problem traces back to Congress in 1958. GRAS allows companies to declare ingredients safe without meaningful government oversight if they are “recognised by experts.” But as Kennedy explained, this has been weaponised by industry. “Thousands upon thousands of new ingredients have flooded our food supply. In Europe, there are only 400 legal ingredients. Here, the FDA doesn’t even know how many there are. Estimates range from 4,000 to 10,000,” he told CBS.
Ask any American what is in their packaged food, and the answer is likely: “I have no idea.” Dr. Kessler wants the GRAS classification revoked for processed carbohydrates like corn syrup and maltodextrin, unless companies can prove they are safe and not fueling obesity.
“These cheap calories are engineered to hit brain reward circuits, triggering overeating and depriving us of fullness,” Kessler explained. “They aren’t just empty calories, they end up in your liver and spread to other organs, causing chronic disease.”
Industry denial vs. public health reality
Meanwhile, big food is pushing back. The Consumer Brands Association says there’s no agreed scientific definition of ultraprocessed foods and that companies follow FDA rules. But history shows us that rules alone do not prevent harm—witness tobacco.
Michael Pollan, longtime critic of factory food, agrees. Even granola bars, marketed as health foods, often qualify as ultraprocessed. He noted that federal subsidies for corn and soy, commodity crops used mainly for processed ingredients, are directly funding the very foods that are making Americans sick. “We are subsidising high fructose corn syrup that contributes to diabetes, and then paying for healthcare to treat it,” Pollan told CBS. “It makes no sense.”
Kennedy insists the government has a duty to inform the public. He claimed he will make ultraprocessed foods accessible and affordable without sacrificing health. Dr. Kessler is cautiously optimistic. “We changed how this country views tobacco. We need to change how this country views these ultraprocessed foods,” Kessler told CBS. “I want the CEOs of Big Food to understand the consequences of what they are doing and act on it.”
The stakes are enormous. Lawsuits, petitions, and dietary guidelines are just the beginning. The question is whether Americans, politicians, and industry will act.