(NewsNation) —Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will face tough questions from Congress about his controversial opinions regarding vaccines and drugs. But the work already done to make food safer by the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services is what the country needs, according to one food industry observer.
“Half of the FDA budget is funded by industry. This is the type of corruption that he is going to remove when he is in Washington,” said influencer and author Vani Hari, aka “The Food Babe.” She is especially focused on improving the quality of children’s breakfast cereals.
“There are 92 million boxes of Froot Loops sold every year in this country. 18% of American children have had at least one bowl of Froot Loops this week, because it’s served in schools,” Hari told NewsNation’s “The Hill.”
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“Our American companies cannot use ingredients that are banned and heavily regulated in other countries in the same exact products that they sell overseas. They’re using better, safer ingredients in Canada, in all of Europe, in Australia, in India.
“It’s extremely un-American to continue to do this. This is something that’s unethical and hypocritical and needs to stop immediately.”
Hari also noted Kennedy’s lead in the longstanding battles with Monsanto over its weedkiller Roundup. The firm has paid more than $2 billion in compensatory and punitive damages to people who blamed the pesticide for their cancer diagnoses.
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When it comes to how Kennedy may shake up all of HHS, Peter Pitts, a former associate commissioner of the FDA, is all for it.
Pitts told NewsNation’s “On Balance” that, though he doesn’t agree with many of Kennedy’s stands, “but he is against the status quo. And I think giving the status quo a swift kick in the ass is a good thing. It keeps people on their toes. It’s creative destruction.”
“If we can get some positive outcomes where people are actually thinking about doing something different, that’s all to the good,” Pitts added.
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Hari said that Kennedy is a strong advocate for regenerative agriculture, “which would dramatically reduce the pesticides being used on our food that are decimating our American health at enormous rates.”
Hari has written “The Food Babe” blog for 13 years and has also written two books about food safety and ingredients. She has also been the target of criticism over the accuracy of some of her claims about the dangers of some food.
