Latest news with #Mom'sMeals
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kennedy touts ultra-processed meals he once called ‘poison'
Robert F Kennedy Jr, promoted a company whose meals contain ultra-processed ingredients – which he has repeatedly railed against – on his 'Make America healthy again' tour. The US health secretary appeared at an enormous food plant in Oklahoma for a company called Mom's Meals, which makes 1.5m 'medically tailored' meals each week and ships them all over the country. Companies including Mom's Meals have been criticized for hijacking the 'food is medicine' movement by providing 'salty, fat-laden' meals to the ill and elderly, paid for by health insurance companies. 'This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again,' Kennedy said in a video posted to the his social media account. Kennedy visited Mom's Meals to celebrate Republican Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt's Food Is Medicine Act, which allows the state's Medicaid program to purchase such meals. Nutritionists told the Guardian that the company's menus contain ultra-processed ingredients and could be healthier. The Associated Press first reported nutritionists' concerns with Kennedy's promotion of the company. 'We can do better and there are lots of meal programs that do better, and they don't have any of those kinds of ingredients in there,' said Marion Nestle, emerita professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, told the Guardian. 'It's the texturizers and even the natural colors. It's got all this stuff in it that food companies put into foods to make up for the fact the ingredients aren't fresh.' Walter Willett, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health, gave the meals a 'C' grade in comments via email. Willet, who is generally skeptical of the utility of the ultra-processed label, said: 'These meals could be ultra-processed but be much healthier.' Teresa Roof, a spokesperson for Mom's Meals, said the organisation works 'continuously to ensure the quality of our meals, which are designed by registered dietitians and professional chefs to meet condition-specific medical guidelines including those from the American Heart Association, National Kidney Foundation, American Diabetes Association, and the National Institutes of Health. 'The question at hand is the definition of ultra-processed foods. Mom's Meals does not produce any meals containing ingredients commonly found in ultra-processed foods. This means no: synthetic food dyes, added MSG, high fructose corn syrup, non-nutritive sweeteners (eg sucralose), partially hydrogenated oils or added trans fats, and synthetic preservatives banned in EU.' Ultra-processed foods generally include ingredients you wouldn't use in your home kitchen – such as stabilizers, gums and anti-sticking agents to name a couple in Mom's Meals' cheese tortellini meal. It also includes cooking processes you wouldn't use at home, such as molding and extrusion. There is a growing body of evidence that shows ultra-processed foods encourage people to eat more calories and are linked to obesity and diabetes. A recent study found these foods account for more than half of all the calories Americans eat. Food researchers are still studying exactly why ultra-processed foods prompt people to eat more. The definition of ultra-processed, and its utility as a category, is a subject of debate in nutrition research circles. The meaning of the phrase has become increasingly controversial lawmakers have proposed bills attempting to reign in food processors. The phrase 'ultra-processed' has come into wide usage since Kennedy began painting it as the boogeyman of the US food system, criticizing the industrialized processes as 'poisoning the American people' in his confirmation hearing. His agency is also planning a 'bold, edgy' public relations campaign to warn Americans about the dangers of such foods. 'Why he would pick on these meals as being the solution to America's food problems – I have no idea,' said Nestle. 'But ones that are made with better ingredients and don't have all the junk in them would cost more, and they'd probably have to be shipped frozen.' Notably, the state act comes after Republicans and Donald Trump signed a mega bill to cut $1tn out of Medicaid and $186bn from government food supports, colloquially known as 'food stamps', over the next decade. Medicaid is a public health insurance program that covers 71 million low-income, disabled and elderly Americans. This is not the first time Kennedy has made a controversial choice of companies to promote. In March, he visited Steak 'n Shake, a burger and fries restaurant, where he praised the company's use of beef tallow in fryers and made inflammatory statements about vaccines.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump news at a glance: president demands Bolsonaro trial be stopped as he hits Brazil with 50% tariff
Donald Trump has slapped a 50% tariff on Brazil over what he called the 'witch-hunt' against former president Jair Bolsonaro and demanded that it end immediately. The US president said the levy on Brazil would be 'separate from all sectoral tariffs' as he also targeted seven other countries for steep tariffs and criticised the trial of Bolsonaro, whom he has described as a friend and hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The US supreme court, meanwhile, denied a request by Florida officials to lift a judge's order barring them from carrying out arrests of undocumented US immigrants entering the state while a legal challenge plays out. And the Trump administration has issued sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN official investigating abuses in Gaza, in the latest US effort to punish critics of Israel's war in the territory. Here are the key US politics stories at a glance: On Wednesday afternoon, Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, and criticized the trial Jair Bolsonaro is facing over trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. 'This Trial should not be taking place,' Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social on Wednesday. 'It is a witch hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, rejected Trump's demand that legal proceedings against Bolsonaro be dropped and his claim that a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports was necessary to close a trade deficit that does not, in fact, exist. Read the full story The country's supreme court has maintained a judicial block on a Republican-crafted Florida law that makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants in the US to enter the state. The justices on Wednesday denied a request by state officials to lift an order by Florida-based US district judge Kathleen Williams that barred them from carrying out arrests and prosecutions under the law while a legal challenge plays out in lower courts. Read the full story Robert F Kennedy Jr has promoted a company whose meals contain ultra-processed ingredients – which he has repeatedly railed against – on his 'Make America healthy again' tour. The US health secretary appeared at an enormous food plant in Oklahoma for a company called Mom's Meals, which makes 1.5m 'medically tailored' meals each week and ships them all over the country. Read the full story The Trump administration announced on Wednesday it was issuing sanctions against Francesca Albanese, an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the US to punish critics of Israel's 21-month war in Gaza. Read the full story The US agriculture secretary has suggested that increased automation and forcing Medicaid recipients to work could replace the migrant farm workers being swept up in Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, despite years of evidence and policy failures that those kinds of measures are not substitutes for the immigrant labor force underpinning American agriculture. Read the full story The Trump administration is reportedly planning to cut at least 2,145 high-ranking Nasa employees with specialized skills or management responsibilities. According to documents obtained by Politico, most employees leaving are in senior-level government ranks, depriving the agency of decades of experience as part of a push to slash the size of the federal government through early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations. Read the full story War-torn South Sudan has said it is holding a group of eight men controversially deported from the US. Only one of them is from South Sudan. The rest comprise two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba and one each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico. The Trump administration has sued California over its policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls' school sports, alleging their participation violates federal anti-discrimination laws. Catching up? Here's what happened on .
Boston Globe
08-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed.
Last week I toured — Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) But an Associated Press review of Mom's Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company's offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick. Advertisement The meals contain chemical additives that would render them impossible to recreate at home in your kitchen, said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University and food policy expert, who reviewed the menu for The AP. Many menu items are high in sodium, and some are high in sugar or saturated fats, she said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It is perfectly possible to make meals like this with real foods and no ultra-processing additives but every one of the meals I looked at is loaded with such additives,' Nestle said. 'What's so sad is that they don't have to be this way. Other companies are able to produce much better products, but of course they cost more.' Mom's Meals do not have the artificial, petroleum dyes that Kennedy has pressured companies to remove from products, she noted. Advertisement Mom's Meals' products 'do not include ingredients that are commonly found in ultra-processed foods' such as synthetic food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, certain sweeteners or synthetic preservatives that are banned in Europe, Teresa Roof, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. She did not address the company's use of additives in the foods that make them ultraprocessed. The meals are a 'healthy alternative' to what many people would find in their grocery stores, said Andrew Nixon, U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman, in response to questions about Mom's Meals. Mom's Meals is one of several companies across the U.S. that deliver 'medically tailored' at-home meals. The meal programs are covered by Medicaid for some enrollees, including people who are sick with cancer or diabetes, as well as some older Americans who are enrolled in certain Medicare health insurance plans. Patients recently discharged from the hospital can also have the meals delivered, according to the company's website. It's unclear how much federal taxpayers spend on providing meals through Medicaid and Medicare every year. An Defining ultraprocessed foods can be tricky. Most U.S. foods are processed, whether it's by freezing, grinding, fermentation, pasteurization or other means. Foods created through industrial processes and with ingredients such as additives, colors and preservatives that you couldn't duplicate in a home kitchen are considered the most processed. Advertisement Kennedy has said healthier U.S. diets are key to his vision to 'Make America Healthy Again.' His call for Americans to increase whole foods in their diets has helped Kennedy build his unique coalition of Trump loyalists and suburban moms who have branded themselves as 'MAHA.' In a recent social media post where he criticized the vast amount of ultraprocessed foods in American diets, Kennedy urged Americans to make healthier choices. 'This country has lost the most basic of all freedoms — the freedom that comes from being healthy," Kennedy said.
08-07-2025
- Health
RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed
WASHINGTON -- Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. He even thanked Mom's Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals 'without additives" to the homes of sick or elderly Americans. The spreads include chicken bacon ranch pasta for dinner and French toast sticks with fruit or ham patties. 'This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again,' Kennedy said in the video, posted to his official health secretary account, after he toured the company's Oklahoma facility last week. But an Associated Press review of Mom's Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company's offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick. The meals contain chemical additives that would render them impossible to recreate at home in your kitchen, said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University and food policy expert, who reviewed the menu for The AP. Many menu items are high in sodium, and some are high in sugar or saturated fats, she said. 'It is perfectly possible to make meals like this with real foods and no ultra-processing additives but every one of the meals I looked at is loaded with such additives,' Nestle said. 'What's so sad is that they don't have to be this way. Other companies are able to produce much better products, but of course they cost more.' Mom's Meals do not have the artificial, petroleum dyes that Kennedy has pressured companies to remove from products, she noted. Mom's Meals' products 'do not include ingredients that are commonly found in ultra-processed foods" such as synthetic food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, certain sweeteners or synthetic preservatives that are banned in Europe, Teresa Roof, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. She did not address the company's use of additives in the foods that make them ultraprocessed. The meals are a 'healthy alternative' to what many people would find in their grocery stores, said Andrew Nixon, U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman, in response to questions about Mom's Meals. Mom's Meals is one of several companies across the U.S. that deliver 'medically tailored' at-home meals. The meal programs are covered by Medicaid for some enrollees, including people who are sick with cancer or diabetes, as well as some older Americans who are enrolled in certain Medicare health insurance plans. Patients recently discharged from the hospital can also have the meals delivered, according to the company's website. It's unclear how much federal taxpayers spend on providing meals through Medicaid and Medicare every year. An investigation by STAT news last year found that some states were spending millions of dollars to provide medically tailored meals to Medicaid enrollees that were marketed as healthy and 'dietitian approved." But many companies served up meals loaded with salt, fat or sugar — all staples of an unhealthy American's diet, the report concluded. Defining ultraprocessed foods can be tricky. Most U.S. foods are processed, whether it's by freezing, grinding, fermentation, pasteurization or other means. Foods created through industrial processes and with ingredients such as additives, colors and preservatives that you couldn't duplicate in a home kitchen are considered the most processed. Kennedy has said healthier U.S. diets are key to his vision to 'Make America Healthy Again.' His call for Americans to increase whole foods in their diets has helped Kennedy build his unique coalition of Trump loyalists and suburban moms who have branded themselves as 'MAHA." In a recent social media post where he criticized the vast amount of ultraprocessed foods in American diets, Kennedy urged Americans to make healthier choices.
Japan Today
07-07-2025
- Health
- Japan Today
RFK Jr promotes food company he says will make Americans healthy; their meals are ultraprocessed
By AMANDA SEITZ and JONEL ALECCIA Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. He even thanked Mom's Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals 'without additives" to the homes of sick or elderly Americans. The spreads include chicken bacon ranch pasta for dinner and French toast sticks with fruit or ham patties. 'This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again,' Kennedy said in the video, posted to his official health secretary account, after he toured the company's Oklahoma facility last week. But an Associated Press review of Mom's Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company's offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick. The meals contain chemical additives that would render them impossible to recreate at home in your kitchen, said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University and food policy expert, who reviewed the menu for The AP. Many menu items are high in sodium, and some are high in sugar or saturated fats, she said. 'It is perfectly possible to make meals like this with real foods and no ultra-processing additives but every one of the meals I looked at is loaded with such additives,' Nestle said. 'What's so sad is that they don't have to be this way. Other companies are able to produce much better products, but of course they cost more.' Mom's Meals do not have the artificial, petroleum dyes that Kennedy has pressured companies to remove from products, she noted. Mom's Meals said in an emailed response that its food products 'do not include ingredients that are commonly found in ultra-processed foods.' The company does not use synthetic food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, certain sweeteners or synthetic preservatives that are banned in Europe, said Teresa Roof, a company spokeswoman. The meals are a 'healthy alternative' to what many people would find in their grocery stores, said Andrew Nixon, U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman, in response to questions about Mom's Meals. Mom's Meals is one of several companies across the U.S. that deliver 'medically tailored' at-home meals. The meal programs are covered by Medicaid for some enrollees, including people who are sick with cancer or diabetes, as well as some older Americans who are enrolled in certain Medicare health insurance plans. Patients recently discharged from the hospital can also have the meals delivered, according to the company's website. It's unclear how much federal taxpayers spend on providing meals through Medicaid and Medicare every year. An investigation by STAT news last year found that some states were spending millions of dollars to provide medically tailored meals to Medicaid enrollees that were marketed as healthy and 'dietician approved." But many companies served up meals loaded with salt, fat or sugar — all staples of an unhealthy American's diet, the report concluded. Defining ultraprocessed foods can be tricky. Most U.S. foods are processed, whether it's by freezing, grinding, fermentation, pasteurization or other means. Foods created through industrial processes and with ingredients such as additives, colors and preservatives that you couldn't duplicate in a home kitchen are considered the most processed. Kennedy has said healthier U.S. diets are key to his vision to 'Make America Healthy Again.' His call for Americans to increase whole foods in their diets has helped Kennedy build his unique coalition of Trump loyalists and suburban moms who have branded themselves as 'MAHA." In a recent social media post where he criticized the vast amount of ultraprocessed foods in American diets, Kennedy urged Americans to make healthier choices. 'This country has lost the most basic of all freedoms — the freedom that comes from being healthy," Kennedy said. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
