A 'MAHA Influencer' gets a seat at the White House table to boost RFK Jr.'s agenda
A 'MAHA Influencer' gets a seat at the White House table to boost RFK Jr.'s agenda A food blogger from Charlotte, North Carolina, is getting top billing at the White House thanks to President Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again agenda
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Trump: RFK Jr. will 'make America healthy again'
Former President Donald Trump said during his Election Night victory speech that Robert Kennedy Jr. will "make America healthy again", adding "Go have a good time, Bobby."
Fox - Fox 9
Dressed in a purple jumpsuit and wearing her signature bright pink lipstick, Vani Hari walks through a grocery store aisle filled with Easter candy.
'Welcome to the holiday death aisle,' says the 46-year-old food activist and influencer, gesticulating dramatically. 'It's back, and it's in Easter form.'
Hari, who blogs as 'The Food Babe,' rattles off a list of ingredients, taking pains to emphasize how unpronounceable the chemical names in a pack of roll-up candy are: 'poly meanite… what?'
More: Robert F. Kennedy now heads Trump's MAHA commission: What to know
That's part of her shtick: 'If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it."
Last month, the White House invited her to the first Make America Healthy Again Moms' roundtable. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moderated the closed-door meeting with some of the most influential women in the new Republican administration including members of the Cabinet.
The typical response from her 2.3 million Instagram followers? 'You've helped me adjust my entire food thought process. I look at everything in the store with suspicion,' commented one user with the handle @idyllwild_history_bits_and_pc.
Hari's clout as a wellness influencer - Time Magazine in 2015 named her as one of 'The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet' - has given her sway over large companies and government officials, even as many scientists say that many of her claims aren't backed by science.
Now the food blogger from Charlotte, North Carolina, is getting top billing at the White House thanks to President Donald Trump and Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again agenda.
'For years, it felt like citizen activists like me were the only ones holding these food companies accountable,' Hari, who was listed on the agenda for the private roundtable session as a "MAHA Influencer," told USA TODAY. 'Finally, it was somebody in Washington willing to fix the issue that has allowed these companies to put chemicals in our food that they don't put in other countries.'
MAHA Mom: Kennedy 'took my voice on the campaign trail'
More: Looking to avoid toxic 'forever' chemicals? Here's your best chance of doing so.
Vani Hari wasn't always a healthy eater. As a child, she rejected her mom's Indian cooking to assimilate with her American friends who favored fast food.
But that path led to mounting health problems, and, by her mid-20s, she began investigating what she was consuming and advocating for transparency in food labeling and the removal of harmful chemicals from processed foods.
She'd spent hours researching and reading books on nutrition and studying food labels. On trips abroad, she'd often visit grocery stores comparing labels on food sold by American companies with what they offered stateside.
In 2011, armed with knowledge she had acquired through her self-styled research, she launched FoodBabe.com to document her healthy eating journey and to share what she was learning about the chemicals in her food. After writing a viral blogpost about the ingredients found in a Chick-fil-A sandwich including food coloring, MSG and refined grains, the company invited Hari to their headquarters to discuss her concerns. On her blog, she mentions the fact that two years later, the company responded by announcing they were removing artificial dyes - highlighting it as a big win for the activist community.
More: Girl Scouts hit back after Joe Rogan calls their cookies 'toxic' on his podcast
By 2014, her blog had millions of people reading it. Her career as a food activist took off. So did the blowback.
Yale neuroscientist Steve Novella dubbed Hari as the "Jenny McCarthy of Food" and dismissed her as a "scaremonger" who was sounding the alarm on completely safe ingredients. McCarthy, an actress, model and talk show host, has been excoriated by the scientific community for her belief that vaccines caused her son to develop autism.
Novella, the founder and executive editor of Science-Based Medicine, run by the nonprofit New England Skeptical Society, wrote in 2014 how he believed Hari had "marshaled her scientific illiteracy to pressure Subway" into removing an ingredient from their bread.
"She called azodicarbonamide, an ingredient to make bread fluffier, the' yoga mat chemical 'because it also has a variety of industrial uses, including making yoga mats," he wrote. "Soy also has a variety of uses, including making yoga mats."
In 2017, Hari said her activism took a back seat when she became a mom and launched Truvani, a food company which is billed as offering "real food without added chemicals." Among the organic products the company sells online and in stores are protein powders, snack bars and toothpaste.
'He took my voice on the campaign trail,' she said.
Hari said she ended her hiatus from activism last September to speak at a Senate roundtable on 'American health and nutrition: A second opinion' organized by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin. Kennedy, who had suspended his independent campaign for president weeks earlier and endorsed then-Republican candidate Donald Trump, came to the session on Capitol Hill. At a dinner afterward, Hari and Kennedy sat at the same table and talked at length about food additives.
More: 'You frighten people': 4 takeaways from RFK Jr's contentious confirmation hearing
Hari sat one row behind Kennedy's wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, during his Jan. 30 Senate confirmation hearing to oversee the nation's food and health care systems as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Wearing a fuchsia pantsuit, she nodded along as Kennedy spoke about the role of additives and what he said they were doing to America's waistline and its long-term health.
Hari doesn't have professional training in health or nutrition. Neither does Kennedy, 71, a longtime environmental lawyer with no background in medicine or health care, but who has long argued that chemical additives and food dyes are behind the 'chronic diseases epidemic' in the country. His vow to take on "Big Pharma" during his short-lived presidential run won the support of many, particularly mothers worried about what was in their kids' diets.
'I lost faith in my government and my regulatory agencies because I had to go and directly petition food companies to change because they weren't doing the right thing,' she said in an interview at the end of Kennedy's first of two confirmation hearings. 'It's because the FDA was allowing them to get away with it.'
Hari said it felt like a 'defining moment" because Kennedy had 'heard the call.'
Roundtable at the White House and MAHA wins
More: Snapshot of RFK Jr.'s plan for changing the U.S. food and drug system
Hari said she didn't know what to expect when she went to the White House for the Make America Healthy Again Moms' roundtable.
That day, right before she entered the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building armed with charts for her presentation, she could see Trump on the South Lawn showcasing Tesla models with Elon Musk, the car company's CEO and leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Looking around the room, Hari said she was "pleasantly surprised" to find that the majority of the women at the table had ties to the administration.
She took her seat next to two other MAHA Moms. Kennedy sat across from her flanked by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Also at the table: Then-White House Counselor Alina Habba, now the interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who had her infant son on her lap.
Drawing on her research during her foreign travels, Hari gave a seven-minute presentation showing the discrepancies between the ingredients listed in American versions of certain food versus its European counterparts.
Kennedy moderated the panel, where he weighed in on a West Virginia bill banning food dyes and preservatives. He urged people to call the state's Republican governor to back the legislation. The HHS secretary promised things would change.
"We're going to stop this from happening," Kennedy told the room, according to Hari, adding: "American companies can basically stop poisoning us with ingredients they don't use in other countries."
A few hours later, the White House posted a video on social media highlighting Kennedy, Cabinet members and the MAHA moms struggling to pronounce certain ingredients in common food items. Social media users were quick to point out that just because you can't pronounce certain items doesn't mean they are unsafe.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air quality alert issued for central, southern MN for wildfire smoke from Canada
The Brief The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for wide swaths of central and southern Minnesota due to wildfire smoke from Canada. The alert runs through 11 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, putting the air quality index in the orange category – meaning it will be unhealthy for sensitive groups. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for a wide range of central and southern Minnesota due to the continuing wildfires in Canada. What we know The MPCA warns that smoke from wildfires in northwest Canada have moved into central and southern Minnesota behind a cold front, while fine particle levels have climbed to unhealthy levels for sensitive groups. The affected areas include: Twin Cities metro area Brainerd Alexandria Albert Lea Marshall Worthington Hinckley St. Cloud Ortonville Mankato Moorhead Duluth The Tribal Nations of Upper Sioux, Mille Lacs, Prairie Island, Leech Lake, and Fond du Lac. What to expect Minnesotans can expect to see a hazy sky, and smell smoke in the air, MPCA says. For sensitive groups, like people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant people, being outside during the alert could impact their health. What you can do The MPCA is urging people to reduce activities that contribute to poor air quality, like fires, reducing vehicle trips and vehicle idling as much as possible. To keep up to date on current air quality conditions, click here. The Source A press release from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kennedy names new members of CDC vaccine advisory panel days after removing previous advisers
Just two days after retiring the entirety of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed several prominent critics of the government's Covid-19 response to that committee. He announced eight new members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, on Wednesday. Kennedy had said Monday that the previous 17-member panel that makes recommendations on who should get vaccines and when was rife with conflicts of interest and that he would appoint new 'highly credentialed' experts in time for the panel's June 25 meeting, at which the members are expected to discuss guidance for Covid-19 and HPV shots, among others. In a statement Wednesday, Kennedy said the reassembled panel will demand 'definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations, but will also review data for the current vaccine schedule as well.' The eight new ACIP members include Dr. Robert Malone, a biochemist who made early innovations in the field of messenger RNA but in more recent years has been a vocal critic of mRNA technology in Covid-19 vaccines. The CDC recently narrowed its recommendations for mRNA Covid-19 shots, but some advocates in the Make America Healthy Again space have pressed Kennedy to go further and bar the vaccines entirely. Another new member is Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who co-authored an October 2020 strategy on herd immunity known as the Great Barrington Declaration with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the US National Institutes of Health. Both Malone's and Kulldorff's names were circulated early in the second Trump administration as potential advisers on ACIP or other panels, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with CNN. Kennedy also chose Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician he described as a 'strong advocate for evidence-based medicine' who has served on hospital committees and medical executive boards. Dr. Retsef Levi, an MIT professor who has published studies on mRNA vaccines and cardiovascular events, is also joining the panel. Levi is a professor of operations management. Several of the new members have served in federal health agencies previously, including Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a former acting chief of the NIH's section on nutritional neurosciences. Dr. Cody Meissner, a Dartmouth professor of pediatrics who also signed the Great Barrington Declaration, has previously served on ACIP and on the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, the Pacific region director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, also served on the FDA committee and on a national panel reviewing the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine. Dr. Michael Ross, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, has previously served on the CDC's Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer. Kennedy also nodded in his statement to Ross' 'continued service on biotech and healthcare boards.' The private equity company Havencrest, in which Ross is an operating partner, describes him on its site as a 'serial CEO' who has served on the boards of several biotechnology companies.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Advocates optimistic that Congress could renew downwinder compensation in budget bill
One year to the day since federal lawmakers let compensation for downwinders expire, advocates say they feel more optimistic than they have in months about getting an expansion of the program through Congress. Although a majority of senators voted to renew and expand the program last year, the bill was never considered in the House of Representatives. But some now see President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill as a potential vehicle and are urging lawmakers to include compensation in the Senate version of the bill. 'As we know, fallout knows no boundaries,' said Steve Erickson, a longtime volunteer with Downwinders Inc, during a press conference outside the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building Tuesday. 'There's plenty of evidence — it's overwhelming, in fact — that hundreds of thousands of cancers were caused by atomic fallout, and so it's time that — past time now for some years — that RECA be expanded to cover far more of those who suffered from those unwitting exposures.' Erickson was referring to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, which provided some restitution to people with illnesses linked to exposure to nuclear fallout from tests conducted by the U.S. government at the Nevada Test Site and others. Downwinders from 10 counties in southern Utah were covered under the act, along with people who lived in northern Arizona and Nevada at the time of the tests. The act was renewed for two years in 2022, but advocates have sought to have the pool of eligible applicants be expanded to cover downwinders across several Western states – including all of Utah — and miners exposed to uranium in Missouri. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, sponsored the Senate expansion bill last year and is said to be working on reintroducing some version of the legislation as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Utah downwinders say they've been in touch with Hawley's office and that the senator is optimistic about the progress being made behind the scenes. They praised Utah's congressional delegation for working toward a solution — Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy in particular, who sponsored a two-year extension of the program last year — but urged Utah's elected officials to support something similar to the expanded bill Hawley pushed last year. Lee gave a statement to advocates, saying, 'I am proud to work toward RECA reauthorization and to ensure that the Americans who rely upon it continue to receive the care they need.' The first nuclear test was conducted 80 years ago next month, and downwinders are urging Congress to act quickly to preserve compensation for aging Americans who are suffering from illnesses likely caused by exposure to radiation. They say the federal government has a responsibility to help those who were exposed to radiation from tests without knowledge of the long-term effects. 'I've watched families, friends, colleagues and neighbors suffer from the consequences of the decisions that were made. Those people had no say in any of those decisions,' Claudia Peterson, a downwinder from St. George, said in a statement. 'Tomorrow, I will be sitting at the bedside of my childhood friend as she goes through another surgery related to another cancer, and she is scared to death. There are no words to say what it takes to watch the heartache, to paint a true picture of watching a loved one suffer.' 'And the legacy is what has been left by decisions made by our government,' she added. A bipartisan group of 41 state lawmakers wrote to Congress urging the extension and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in April, but Erickson said he hasn't heard a response from Washington. Although the program has expired, the Justice Department has continued to process claims that were submitted prior to its sunset, but those are dwindling, and the program will soon be shuttered. 'Those few claims that are left are still being settled, and when they are done, the program is done, the doors will close, and it will shut down,' Erickson said. 'It'll be harder and more expensive to restart the Justice Department compensation program under RECA if it isn't renewed soon, so it's imperative that Congress act now.'
