海角大神

Tagging along on a recent Target shopping trip, Aisling Van Dyke鈥檚 daughter made a familiar plea for a favorite food item: 鈥淢om, look, there鈥檚 an organic ketchup!鈥�

For Ms. Van Dyke 鈥� a California-based proponent of the Make America Healthy Again movement, or MAHA 鈥� weighing the pros and cons of food items like ketchup may soon get easier. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week announced plans to remove petroleum-based dyes from the U.S. food supply by 2026. That would include many ketchups that use dyes to achieve a bright red color.

Mr. Kennedy popularized the MAHA label last summer after throwing his support behind President Donald Trump. The former Democratic presidential candidate鈥檚 loosely defined movement encompasses a wide range of Americans, from those who support healthier eating to those who are curious about alternative treatments or have concerns with the medical establishment.

But MAHA has also been highly polarizing. Many of Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 statements, such as advocating for the removal of fluoride from drinking water and pushing for new research on the safety and efficacy of certain vaccines, have raised alarm bells among health experts and ordinary citizens alike. This week, an announced plan to collect private medical records for a comprehensive new study on autism drew sharp criticism.

Larry Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for National and Global Health Law, believes Mr. Kennedy has demonstrated an irresponsible disregard for facts.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really the secretary鈥檚 job to ... filter bad information from good information, bad science from good science, not to just throw everything out there and let people decide,鈥� says Mr. Gostin.

People like Ms. Van Dyke, however, say they want to decide for themselves. She and her sisters operate a health and well-being website called MAHA Momma, inspired by Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 policies. They research and answer questions they get via a submission form on their site, and operate a Facebook group by which parents share tips about healthy eating and natural remedies. They say they value doing their own research, and appreciate Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 willingness to challenge what they see as industry groupthink.

鈥淓very day I鈥檓 learning something new,鈥� says Ms. Van Dyke. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just so much information out there that really we were turning a blind eye to. We just didn鈥檛 have the knowledge.鈥�

The MAHA effect

Since becoming secretary of health and human services, Mr. Kennedy has already started to follow through on the MAHA agenda. He鈥檚 tightened a rule about the use of food additives and created a search database with a list of contaminant levels for different substances in food.

He鈥檚 also garnered criticism for overseeing around 10,000 firings at the Department of Health and Human Services, and for a new research effort into the causes of autism. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kennedy published several books alleging that there may be a connection between vaccines and autism, though multiple studies have since found no link between the two. More recently, he has suggested 鈥渆nvironmental toxins鈥� may be to blame.

Confronted with his first big test as health and human services secretary 鈥� a measles outbreak in Texas, in which two children died 鈥� Mr. Kennedy seemed to satisfy no one with his response. He endorsed the vaccine as 鈥渢he most effective way to prevent measles,鈥� but also said he did not believe the government should mandate it and raised questions about whether there had been adequate testing around its safety.

People鈥檚 views of MAHA divide along partisan lines. A recent Economist/YouGov poll found just 24% of liberals had a favorable opinion of the MAHA movement, compared with 74% of conservatives.

One part of Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 platform seems to resonate with a lot of Americans: healthier eating. In 2025, voters ranked obesity as their top health concern. Eighty percent of Americans also say it鈥檚 very important for the government to address food safety 鈥� including more Democrats than Republicans. And a majority favor banning food dyes and removing processed foods from school lunches.

Yet even on obesity, not everyone may go along with Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 approach. Mr. Kennedy wants to get rid of ultraprocessed foods and food additives, and this week raised eyebrows when he declared, 鈥淪ugar is poison.鈥� He has expressed skepticism about weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and this month announced that those medications would not be covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

Still, addressing those concerns is likely to be far more popular than efforts to halt medical research or disrupt the childhood vaccine schedule, say experts.

鈥淚f it comes to the point where we don鈥檛 have access to vaccines ... that would be really scary,鈥� says Meghan Womack, a dietician with two young children. 鈥淒octors are not perfect, but they do go to school for a really long time, and they are working within evidence-based practice.鈥�

Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly rebuffed the 鈥渁nti-vaccine鈥� label, saying he simply wants better testing before approval, better tracking of potential harms, and better evidence of efficacy over time.

But even if the new secretary doesn鈥檛 make any changes impacting current vaccines, critics are concerned he could stall the development of new ones. And some charge he has already undermined children鈥檚 health simply by encouraging a more skeptical attitude toward vaccination in general. Mr. Gostin, for one, is worried about population immunity in some communities. 鈥淥ur childhood vaccination rates have dipped to dangerously low levels,鈥� he says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 because of our kids鈥�

Lori Lunn, a substitute teacher and former school counselor, supports Mr. Kennedy for what she sees as his emphasis on healthy food and commitment to unbiased research. Ms. Lunn chose not to vaccinate her two youngest children, and reading Mr. Kennedy鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Real RFK Jr.鈥� helped solidify her convictions. She feels she doesn鈥檛 have enough reliable information about how vaccines could affect her children鈥檚 health.

鈥淚 would occasionally overhear people talking about how people who don鈥檛 vaccinate their kids are so ignorant,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 like, it鈥檚 actually the opposite. I鈥檝e never met somebody who chose not to vaccinate their kids who hadn鈥檛 done a ton of research.鈥�

Ms. Van Dyke and her sister, Caroline Guiney, both vaccinated their children. But they also think an overemphasis on medication can cause people to neglect simpler remedies, such as treating obesity with exercise.

鈥淲estern medicine and pharmaceuticals and stuff like that are definitely necessary, but they鈥檙e not the end-all of everything,鈥� says Ms. Guiney.

Every morning, Ms. Van Dyke walks at a YMCA track. Her daughter has started joining her on weekends, excitedly sharing how many laps she achieved. For Ms. Van Dyke, that鈥檚 why her lifestyle matters: to encourage her children to make similar choices.

鈥淲hat moves us every day and why this is so important to us 鈥� it鈥檚 because of our kids,鈥� she says.