Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Americans Lean In To Meatier Diet, Despite Health Concerns It Raises
NBC News: Americans Are Eating Up The Meat Industry's Health Claims
Protein-hungry shoppers are buying more meat with their health top of mind. Health experts, however, wish they’d think beyond the butcher counter. More than three-quarters of U.S. consumers saw meat and poultry as “part of a healthy, balanced diet” last year, up from 64% in 2020, according to an annual survey from food industry groups FMI and the Meat Institute, released last month. Forty-five percent are “actively trying to prepare more meals containing meat or poultry,” while another 31% are “doing so off and on,” the survey found. (Bellis, 4/11)
The Wall Street Journal: RFK Jr. Once Touted Raw Milk. Now He’s Stopped Talking About It.
Mark McAfee, chief executive of Raw Farm, the country’s largest raw-milk producer, got an unexpected text last year from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposing a conversation about raw milk once FDA Commissioner Marty Makary was confirmed. The meeting never happened. In the months that followed, McAfee said, his outreach to the health secretary went unanswered. Kennedy, who once took shots of raw milk at the White House alongside a wellness influencer, stopped publicly championing the product. (Siddiqui, 4/11)
The Washington Post: In Sign Of MAHA’s Influence, EPA Is Holding Up Forever Chemical Approvals
The Environmental Protection Agency is sitting on dozens of approvals for uses of “forever chemicals” at the direction of Administrator Lee Zeldin, over fears that it could anger Make America Healthy Again activists, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. (Spring and Weber, 4/13)
CNN: Peptides: What’s Real, What’s Risky And What’s Next
In the early 2020s, interest in GLP-1 weight loss drugs exploded. Now, as we move deeper into the decade, a new buzzword is taking over: peptides. And the demand for peptides continues to surge. “The GLP-1s put it on the map, and then people were like, ‘Well, what’s next?’” said Evan Miller, founder and CEO of Gameday Men’s Health, a concierge men’s health network that provides peptides and other care. (Howard, 4/13)
Politico: RFK Jr. Has Turned Corporate America’s Name To Mud, POLITICO Poll Finds
The party of business is now chock-full of voters who distrust food and pharmaceutical companies and want to regulate them. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of them and the health secretary’s drive to spread that message in Washington is proving costly for industry. (Chu, 4/11)
Politico: Your Guide To Who’s Who In The MAHA Movement
Sure, Americans know Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mehmet Oz. But Marty Makary? Calley Means? (Gardner and Wiederkehr, 4/13)
