The doctor tapped to lead one of America’s largest health agencies said millions of children are being drugged to combat the side effects of a contaminated food supply.
Dr Marty Makary, a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for his nomination hearing to head up the FDA.
During the hearing, which saw him asked a wide range of questions on clinical trials, drug safety and vaccines, Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, probed him about America’s food.
He said over the last several decades ‘our food’s gone downhill because we have put everything in the world in our food’ and kids are becoming ‘addicted to it.’
The senator added: ‘We’ve lost probably a couple generations because of obesity and diabetes. I have faith in this generation… they’re looking at their health as the future and they’re fired up about it and nutrition being a good part of it.’
Research estimates 70 percent of the food supply in America consists of ultra-processed foods – loosely defined as those with more than five ingredients – and experts say the tainted food supply is driving the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, cancers and chronic diseases.
Dr Makary said the chemicals in America’s foods are making kids sick, requiring treatment with medication, also noting there is a 30 percent rate of insulin resistance and diabetes in teens.
He said: ‘We are drugging our nation’s children at scale. We have to reassess what we’re doing because we’re not on a good path right now.’
Dr Marty Makary has been tapped to lead one of America’s largest health agencies – the FDA
He added: ‘Half of our nation’s children are sick and nobody has really been doing anything meaningful on this front until we have gotten new momentum and enthusiasm from Secretary Kennedy and President Trump to finally address the root causes of these diseases… and food has a big part of it.’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who would be overseeing Dr Makary as head of the FDA, has been on a crusade to clean up America’s food supply.
He has previously said UPFs are driving the country’s obesity epidemic and a 2024 study found UPFs are linked to 32 diseases that affect every major organ in the body.
The FDA oversees the regulation of products ranging from vaccines, abortion medications and tobacco products to food supplies and cosmetics.
As part of their investigation and approval process, the FDA deems certain ingredients as Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS).
GRAS indicates a substance is safe for use in food, but experts have been casting doubt on that classification as many GRAS ingredients are banned in other countries and have been associated with fertility problems, cancers and behavioral issues in multiple studies.
Dr Makary said: ‘When we eat foods with a lot of molecules that do not appear in nature, these are chemicals that the industry insists are safe – a subset of which are concerning.
‘There’s a body of research now that suggests concern with some of these ingredients. We have to look at those ingredients and you have my commitment to do so if confirmed as FDA commissioner.
‘These chemicals are creating an inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract and with an altered microbiome lining that GI tract, kids feel sick. It’s not an acute inflammatory reaction. It’s a chronic low-grade reaction and they don’t feel well.’
RFK Jr has also taken aim at seed oils, which include canola, corn, sunflower and cottonseed oils, claiming they too are linked to chronic disease and other health concerns.
However, experts say it isn’t the oils themselves that are the problem. It is actually America’s overconsumption of them – and UPFs – that could be fueling the decline in Americans’ health.
Decades of research have shown seed oils are safe and the unsaturated fats they contain have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
However, a study published in December found men who ate less foods with vegetable oils and more foods like salmon had slower growing prostate cancer.
When asked about them by Senator Tuberville, Dr Makary said he believes seed oils are one group of foods that would benefit from consolidating and analyzing all the scientific research that has been conducted on the oils due to inconsistent findings.
He added: ‘I don’t think it’s any one ingredient in the food supply that’s making our nation’s children sick… We have to look at totality of every single thing in school lunch programs, the diet of our nation’s children.’
To combat UPFs and improve childhood health, Dr Makary said if confirmed as FDA commissioner, he wants to implement a new pilot school lunch program that will help schools across the country transition their in-school foods and drinks to healthier options.
