RFK Jr.’s Food Regulations Will Benefit Big Food and the Swamp – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has started the process of adding more regulation to U.S. food markets. Undoubtedly, Kennedy believed this would bring to heel what has been dubbed “Big Food,” the large food conglomerates that control much of U.S. food production. But more regulations will only benefit Big Food, while the rest of America will lose.

Late last week, Kennedy directed the Food and Drug Administration to eliminate the current Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) practice that allows food producers to use additives without the approval of the FDA. Going forward, food producers can only use new food additives if they first notify the FDA and provide safety data. This is likely the first of many new regulations to come in Kennedy’s crusade.

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy blamed food additives for the rise in chronic diseases, stating that “something is poisoning the American people, and we know that the primary culprits are changing food supply, a switch to highly chemical-intensive processed foods.”

On Monday of last week, Kennedy met with representatives of Big Food to discuss these issues. A headline in Politico warned they were “poised for awkward face-to-face.” Yet the post-meeting comments suggest the get-together was very agreeable. “Great discussion today … advancing food safety and radical transparency to protect the health of all Americans, especially our children,” Kennedy wrote on X. Melissa Hockstad, head of the Consumer Brands Association, the lobbying organization for large food producers, stated, “It was a constructive conversation. We look forward to continued engagement with the secretary and the qualified experts within HHS to support public health, build consumer trust and promote consumer choice.”

The truth is that the companies present at the meeting — Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Tyson Foods, WK Kellogg Co, The J.M. Smucker Company, and PepsiCo — know that any regulatory action Kennedy takes against food additives will, in the long run, boost their bottom lines.

Complying with regulations is expensive. In 2023, California banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 in foods. One estimate found that switching to other types of red dyes cost companies in California $4.74 million. Those are only the transition costs. Companies also face the long-term cost of using natural food dyes, such as beet juice, that are generally more expensive than artificial ones. Now that the FDA has banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 nationwide, those costs will be borne by all U.S. food producers.

That benefits large food producers because they are more able to absorb those costs than their smaller competitors. The increased expenses will drive some smaller food producers out of business while others will have little option but to sell off to larger competitors. Either way, large food producers will expand their market share.

Fewer food companies mean less competition and less competition will undermine Kennedy’s stated aim, food safety. Since consumers demand safe products, companies compete for their business by improving safety. The more competitive a market, the more pressure firms face to provide safe products. Regulations that make markets less competitive reduce consumer safety.

Consumers will also lose as regulations drive up the cost of food. For example, new pork regulations in California will cost consumers in the Golden State an estimated $320 million. Those costs fall disproportionately on poorer households that spend a larger share of their income on food.

Kennedy’s regulations will be a gift to the swamp that is Washington, D.C. They will benefit large food producers at the expense of smaller ones. Consumers will have to pay more for food and sacrifice safety. And it will result in hiring more bureaucrats to enforce the hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of new regulations.

President Trump and Elon Musk have had some early success in draining the swamp. Someone needs to warn them that Kennedy will fill it back up.

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