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Scrutiny of ultra-processed foods, attacks on lobbyists and calls for larger clinical trials of vaccines

Key Points

WASHINGTON—Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s widely anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report is expected to criticize food additives, lobbyists and vaccines, but go easier than expected on pesticides in farming, according to people briefed on a draft version of the report.

The report, which is expected to be released as soon as Thursday, was compiled by the Kennedy-led MAHA Commission, which President Trump established in February with an executive order. The people briefed on the draft version said that the planning was fluid and that changes could be made ahead of the final version.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said that, “until the MAHA Commission’s report is released, any discussion about its contents should be disregarded as baseless speculation.”

Here’s what to know:

The report is expected to raise questions about the health effects on children from two common weedkillers used by U.S. farmers, but stop short of labeling them unsafe. Agriculture groups and some government officials had pushed back against assertions that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, made by Bayer, and atrazine, a herbicide used on grasses and corn, are likely causes of childhood disease. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said glyphosate isn’t likely to cause cancer.

The MAHA report is expected to call for a government health assessment of glyphosate in 2026.

“If the administration’s goal is to bring more efficiency to government, then why is the MAHA Commission duplicating efforts by raising questions about pesticides that have been answered repeatedly through research and reviews by the Environmental Protection Agency?” Illinois farmer and National Corn Growers Association President Kenneth Hartman Jr. said.

The report echoes viewpoints long held by antivaccine activists, including those close to Kennedy. It calls for more study of the U.S. childhood-vaccine schedule, which has grown to a dozen recommended immunizations for infants, from three in 1983.

Kennedy and his allies have suggested, often without evidence, that higher childhood chronic disease may be linked to the expanded vaccine schedule.

Many public-health specialists say the additions to the schedule mean that children are now protected against more diseases. They also point out that the vaccines recommended today use far fewer antigens—substances that trigger an immune response—than older vaccines because of technology improvements.

The report is also expected to call for larger clinical trials of childhood vaccines against placebos, saying that more robust studies would improve understanding of vaccine safety. While some new vaccines are tested against placebos, as the Covid-19 vaccines were, in many cases medical ethicists consider it more appropriate to test new vaccines against other shots that are already available, so that children aren’t deprived of potentially lifesaving interventions.

The report is expected to scrutinize ultra-processed foods, saying they have resulted in children consuming too many highly processed grains, sugars and fat, as well as too many calories overall. The report is likely to criticize the federal dietary guidelines for not addressing ultra-processed foods, according to people familiar with it.

Kennedy has said he expects the next update of the dietary guidelines will advise people to eat more whole foods and avoid packaged items and be released before summer’s end.

The MAHA report is also expected to call for increased nutrition research at the National Institutes of Health, including long-term trials comparing children’s diets that are low-carbohydrate, high in whole foods and low in ultra-processed food.

The report is also expected to examine screentime for children, including smartphones for teenagers, and says children spend less time in nature than previous generations. It suggests those factors and others may contribute to growing mental-health problems in children and teens.

Kennedy and his allies have long been critical of the influence of lobbyists on the regulation of food and pharmaceuticals. But it is unusual for a government report to directly criticize lobbying efforts, as the MAHA report is expected to do.

The report is expected to call out lobbying by the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, detailing their campaign contributions, lobbying spending and attempts to influence legislation, scientific literature and medical training for doctors. The report is also expected to take aim at pharmaceutical television ads, which Kennedy has said he would like to clamp down on.