Make America Healthy Again movement hopes to shape more plates in 2026

The Make America Healthy Again movement, driven primarily by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., made great strides in 2025 and shows no sign of slowing momentum.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has also been partnering on the effort and recently announced a $700 million initiative to help farmers adopt regenerative agriculture practices.

“The Trump administration is leading a bold, coordinated effort to Make America Healthy Again, by restoring common sense to federal nutrition policy, empowering states, supporting farmers, and improving the quality of food available to American families,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted in a recent release. 

However, there is growing concern these well-intentioned efforts are leading to a patchwork of state laws and confusion over which foods are “good” versus those that are less healthy. In some cases, certain basic foods may be even less affordable.

For example, Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill, SB14, that would ban some ingredients—including several food dyes, additives and artificial sweeteners like sucralose—from school meals starting in the 2028-2029 school year. The bill would not apply to food in vending machines or concession stands.

It also will require manufacturers to label any food item in the state if it includes one ingredient on a more expansive list. In addition to food dyes and additives, the list includes interesterified soybean oil—in which fat molecules are modified—and synthetic trans fatty acid.

The label requirement includes a QR code that directs consumers to a manufacturer-controlled website with a notice that the product includes a certain ingredient. It should also link to Food and Drug Administration information on food chemical safety and approvals. The mandate would kick in Jan. 1, 2028. 

The bill would require restaurants and other food service establishments to inform customers on menus or another visible place if they use seed oils such as corn, soybean, canola, and sunflower oils. 

Across the state line in Texas, a bill known as “Make Texas Healthy Again,” includes several provisions. For example, it would require products containing one of 44 ingredients include a warning label. 

The label would read: “WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.”

This law will kick in starting in 2027 with some conditions. It applies to any label “developed or copyrighted on or after January 1, 2027.” Additionally, if a federal agency issues new regulations on an ingredient starting Sept. 1, it no longer requires the warning label.

In search of a national solution

Given the potential for 50 different labeling schemes, food manufacturers and a host of trade groups are pushing for a national solution to food labeling as multiple states move toward requiring warning labels and fuller disclosure of ingredients.

A recently formed coalition that includes some of the world’s largest food manufacturers plans to “hit the ground running in January,” lobbyist Randy Russell of The Russell Group told Agri-Pulse. The goal? To come up with federal legislation that would set national labeling standards for food additives and other ingredients. 

Americans for Ingredient Transparency is seeking both front-of-pack labeling and QR Code reform, as well as legislative changes to FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe process “to provide a nationally uniform regulatory approach for new ingredients used in food and beverage products,” according to the group. AFIT is led by senior advisers Julie Gunlock and Andy Koenig.

“I think what you will see is legislation introduced early next year, starting in the House, that will have federal preemption. We don’t call it federal pre-emption because everybody wants federal pre-emption these days. We’re calling it a national uniform solution.”

Russell’s firm is helping run Americans for Ingredient Transparency. Members include the Corn Refiners Association, Consumer Brands Association, FMI-The Food Industry Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, American Farm Bureau Federation, ConAgra, KraftHeinz, and General Mills.

Recent comments by Kennedy may help advance the effort.

On the sidelines of an event promoting regenerative agriculture, Kennedy told Bloomberg News he is open to a uniform national standard. “It is on the table for discussion,” Kennedy said of a national standard, adding that companies, “don’t want to have rules in 50 different markets; that’s impossible.”

Russell called Kennedy’s remarks “very significant,” but also urged caution. “We don’t know the details. We don’t know all that, but I think that’s a very important signal.”

However, a national standard could be a heavy lift for AFIT given concerns over states’ rights and the 2023 Supreme Court decision upholding California’s Proposition 12, which sets animal welfare standards for eggs and pork sold in the state.

Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller said that while “most of the time” it’s good to avoid a “patchwork” of state laws, it’s also important to recognize the Tenth Amendment’s promise of federalism. 

The amendment simply says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

“It’s a touchy issue,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of things to consider. You have to be careful in that you don’t usurp the Tenth Amendment.”

Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com.