'Why Don't You Do It?': John Kennedy Presses RFK Jr. On Taking Action On Ultra-Processed Foods

[0:00] Thank you Madam Chair. Mr. Secretary, one of the more beneficial things that I think your agency [0:12] has done under your leadership in my judgment is to educate the American people about ultra [0:22] processed foods. But it's still too complicated. How can your department go about uncomplicating it? [0:40] I mean the American people are busy. They're busy earning a living and they don't have time to sit [0:46] down and research the definition of an ultra processed food. Rather than listing all the ultra [0:55] processed foods, which of course would invite litigation and consternation and gnashing of the [1:02] teeth. How can you come up with a list of things that people should look for on the label to know [1:18] if it's ultra processed? For example, sodium. If it's got more than this amount of sodium, [1:25] it's ultra processed. Does that make sense? Do you understand my question? [1:30] I think it's not only a question I understand, but it's a question that my agency has put a lot of [1:37] thought into. There has been no workable definition of ultra processed foods before we came in here. [1:44] That's regulatory malpractice. We now have... There has or hasn't? There has not. Never. [1:51] Well, why don't you do it with respect? Why don't you do it? We already did it. So, [1:57] our regulations are now... We've developed the definition within our agency. It's now before [2:06] the rule gets finalized, it's in the interagency process. There are other agencies that have [2:11] equities like USDA, Department of Commerce, OMB. They have to review our proposal and then approve it. [2:20] And I would say, Senator, in the meantime, people should eat real food. So... [2:26] Bobby, let me stop you because I'm going to run out of time. Look, here's the problem, [2:30] and I commend you for what you've done. But the American people don't have time to sit down and [2:38] read a rule or regulation by the federal government. Where I'd like to see you end up on this is not [2:44] list any particular food items, but say, here are the 10... here are 10 ingredients [2:54] that constitute ultra-processed food. And if it's got sodium above a certain level, it's ultra-processed. [3:05] If it's got such and such, such... I mean, something real simple that can be communicated. Does that make [3:11] sense? It makes a lot of sense. And we're doing exactly that. Once we get that definition of ultra-processed [3:19] food, then we're going to go to mandatory front of package labeling. And it will be a very simple label, [3:26] something like they use across Latin America very, very successfully. Red light, green light, yellow [3:32] light. And so people will be able to see the green light, and that's food that's good for you. And if [3:38] they do the red light, don't eat it. If it's the yellow light, you know, if it's late at night and, [3:44] you know, you're watching the football game, maybe you can... Okay. Let me stop you. I like the way you're [3:49] headed. I'm sorry, but my time's limited. Please continue with that. It will be enormously beneficial [3:57] to the American people. Your agency across all the sub-agencies grants a lot of grants. Are all of [4:07] them... Do all of them have provisions that overhead is capped at 15%? Well, those would be the grants to [4:15] the universities. No, your department issues a lot of grants. Yeah. And the agencies under your [4:21] department. Are all of them... Do all of them contain a 15% cap? They will contain a 15% cap. Okay. [4:31] Finally, this is a question for CMS. Dr. Oz isn't here. An executive order was issued some time ago that [4:40] says every hospital has to publish conspicuously a list of 30 main procedures and the cost. Most of the [4:48] hospitals haven't done that. Those that have done it, you have to click 27.3 times in order to find [4:56] it on their website. Only 27 hospitals have been fined for not doing it. Why don't we do... Why aren't we [5:06] doing more? The hospitals are... The regulation was passed during the last days of the Trump administration. [5:13] It was not enforced during the Biden administration. We now have promulgated final [5:19] regulations. They're already promulgated. That requires the hospitals not only to post, but to [5:25] certify. So they're legally bound by that. And there are draconian punishments for them. And we've [5:31] already sent out, I think, a thousand warning letters. I'm out of time. Thanks, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.