US Secretary of Health Kennedy to meet food company chiefs next week, Politico reports

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(Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to meet with senior executives from leading food companies like General Mills and PepsiCo on March 10, Politico reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The idea of such a meeting was first seeded among industry players in February led by the Consumer Brands Association, which represents packaged food companies, alcoholic beverage companies and others, the report said.

Kennedy Jr. agreed to the proposed meeting with food company leaders at the White House’s suggestion, which has urged Cabinet members to engage with industry representatives, according to the report.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, General Mills and PepsiCo did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Kennedy, an environmental and anti-vaccine activist, has made calls for banning hundreds of food additives and chemicals. He has also called for getting ultra-processed foods out of school lunches as part of a goal to reduce the incidence of diet-related chronic diseases.

During his run for U.S. president, Kennedy said that he wanted to “Make America Healthy Again,” calling out additives, chemicals and sugar used in packaged foods and sodas as culprits for causing chronic illness in the United States.

Early last month, Kennedy took charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with oversight of medicines, vaccines and food safety. Shares of vaccine makers and packaged food companies had fallen at that time on news of him moving closer to a full Senate confirmation.

(Reporting by Anusha Shah and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft)