How ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Has Shaken the U.S. Food Industry

Summary

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WSJ What’s News: How ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Has Shaken the U.S. Food Industry

Date: August 26, 2025
Host: Alex Osoleff, The Wall Street Journal

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Overview

This episode dives into the far-reaching impact of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) agenda, helmed by health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on major U.S. food companies. The discussion also covers political tensions in Chicago, U.S. consumer confidence, market updates, and challenges in American agriculture, but the highlight is the evolving response of the food industry to sweeping proposed health reforms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Political Tensions: Federal Troops & Chicago Crime

• President Trump threatens to deploy the National Guard to Chicago in response to alleged crime surges.

• Illinois Governor JP Pritzker strongly opposes, declaring the move "unconstitutional and un-American."

  • Quote:

    “The state of Illinois is ready to stand against this military deployment with every peaceful tool we have. We will see the Trump administration in court.”
    — Gov. JP Pritzker [01:40]

• WSJ’s Joe Barrett reports crime is down from COVID-era highs; Chicago’s murder rate no longer tops large cities; safety trends are improving.

  • Quote:

    “If you look at the trends, it is getting safer.”
    — Joe Barrett, WSJ [02:08]

• Trump tasks Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with forming a “quick reaction force” in the National Guard, raising new questions about federal authority versus local autonomy.

2. Markets & Economic Updates

• Consumer confidence falls slightly in August but less than expected.
• The labor market shows strain with declining job availability.
• President Trump threatens Fed Governor Lisa Cook; the Fed defends her, Cook refuses to resign.
• Rail merger opposition: Canadian Pacific Kansas City opposes Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger, fearing industry imbalance.
• Pharma: Eli Lilly’s obesity pill, orphaglipron, meets key goals in Phase 3 trials and prepares for regulatory submissions.

3. Agriculture: A Record Corn Crop Brings Farmer Anxiety

• Midwest Crop Tour forecasts a bumper corn crop, but this is not wholly positive for farmers:

  • Larger supply drives prices down, even as input costs (fertilizer, equipment, labor) remain high or rise.

  • Many farmers risk losing money on each acre despite harvest success.

  • Quote:

    “When you have more supply, naturally you see prices go down. Unfortunately … all those prices [farm inputs] are stubbornly staying at the same level, if not rising. So ultimately they really can't afford to sell the crop for less.”
    — Kirk Maltese, WSJ [07:48]

• Export hopes are dampened by ongoing trade turmoil and tariffs, and U.S. is “the supplier of last resort” as Brazil and China partner.

  • Quote (from farmer discussion):

    “Brazil is definitely in bed with China… We’ve become the supplier of last resort to the export market, so we need to find more domestic demand.”
    — Peter Meyer, Muddy Boots Ag [09:48]

4. Main Feature: MAHA’s Disruption of the Food Industry

Drivers of Change

• “Make America Healthy Again,” led by RFK Jr., challenges food manufacturers to cut out “sugar, artificial dyes, and all kinds of food additives.”
  • Quote:

    “[RFK Jr.] is not a fan of processed food. He has called sugar poison. He wants to remove artificial dyes and all kinds of food additives from the food supply.”
    — Jesse Newman, WSJ [10:47]

Industry Response

• Companies like Kraft, Heinz, General Mills, and Nestle form MAHA-focused task forces to strategize compliance.

• The movement is compared to “battling the mythical hydra” and “playing whack-a-mole” due to shifting and multiple regulatory fronts—federal and state.

• Most changes so far have been voluntary (e.g., removal of artificial dyes), but companies scramble to anticipate which ingredients and products will be next.

  • Quote:

    “They are drawing up lists and heat maps to try to track the ingredients as they are drawing attention and trying to figure out, okay, which ones do we need to remove? Which ones are we going to have to label based on different state laws?”
    — Jesse Newman, WSJ [12:03]

• At the federal level, Kennedy prefers voluntary industry compliance over direct legislation, adding further uncertainty to the regulatory environment.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:40] Gov. JP Pritzker:
  “The state of Illinois is ready to stand against this military deployment with every peaceful tool we have. We will see the Trump administration in court.”
• [02:08] Joe Barrett:
  “If you look at the trends, it is getting safer.”
• [07:48] Kirk Maltese:
  “When you have more supply, naturally you see prices go down... they really can't afford to sell the crop for less. But they're losing money on every acre that they farm.”
• [10:47] Jesse Newman:
  “[RFK Jr.] has called sugar poison. He wants to remove artificial dyes and all kinds of food additives from the food supply.”
• [12:03] Jesse Newman:
  “They are drawing up lists and heat maps to try to track the ingredients as they are drawing attention… which ones do we need to remove?”
• [09:48] Peter Meyer:
  “Brazil is definitely in bed with China… We’ve become the supplier of last resort to the export market, so we need to find more domestic demand.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:33 — Headlines overview: Chicago, Trump, MAHA, and food industry impact
• 01:40 — Governor Pritzker’s response to Trump’s National Guard threat
• 02:08 — Crime data and federal deployment context (Joe Barrett)
• 10:21 — Introduction to MAHA’s influence on the food industry
• 10:47 — Food manufacturers’ challenges with MAHA (Jesse Newman)
• 12:03 — How companies are responding: “Task forces” and evolving standards

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Conclusion

This episode presents a multifaceted look at how quickly federal policy shifts—especially on health and food—can ripple across industries and into Americans’ daily lives. The MAHA agenda is moving markets, driving food manufacturers into defensive mode, while larger political and economic uncertainties compound challenges in agriculture and beyond. Listeners come away with a nuanced understanding of current business and policy dynamics, punctuated by on-the-ground reporting and direct insight from industry insiders.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

The governor of Illinois pushes back on Trump's plan to bring federal troops to Chicago. Plus, big food companies are grappling with how to handle the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again agenda.

[C]

The central project for these companies is how do we balance what Secretary Kennedy and Maha want with the need to make products that people are actually going to buy and can buy because they.

[B]

Are affordable and why? For American farmers, a good corn crop this year may not be good News. It's Tuesday, August 26th. I'm Alex Osoleff for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. President Trump has long painted many of the country's biggest cities as hellscapes of lawlessness and blame the Democrats who run them. His latest target appears to be Chicago. Yesterday, the president threatened to send the National Guard to the nation's third largest city. Illinois Democratic Governor JP Pritzker pushed back against the plan, speaking yesterday at a press conference. With the Chicago river as a backdrop, Pritzker called the move unconstitutional and un American.

[D]

The state of Illinois is ready to stand against this military deployment with every peaceful tool we have. We will see the Trump administration in court. We will use every lever at our disposal to protect the people of Illinois and their rights.

[B]

For more, I'm joined now by national affairs reporter Joe Barrett, who is based in Chicago. Joe, what is the situation there? Is the crime as bad as Trump says? Is it an emergency?

[E]

There was a big spike in crime during COVID but things have calmed down considerably. The murder rate is down substantially. The city's done a lot of work in violence prevention. Nobody thinks any murders are a good thing. But if you look at the per capita rate, Chicago doesn't even make the top 20. If you look at just the biggest cities, it is at the top of the list. But there's a lot of different ways to look at this. And if you look at the trends, it is getting safer.

[B]

Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order tasking Defense Secretary Pete hegseth with establishing a quick reaction force in the National Guard. So even if that does get deployed, how does that compare to other places where the National Guard has already been in President Trump's term?

[E]

Well, President Trump called in the National Guard in California because of riots that were going on and he said we need to protect our federal buildings. That was an emergency order under certain provisions, even though the governor didn't request it. And then in D.C. he just more generally said crime is out of control but DC Is under federal control and so that was an easier thing to do. It'll be another test of his ability to use the National Guard to bring it into a place like Chicago where the state and the city have more autonomy than they do in D.C. that.

[B]

Was WSJ national affairs reporter Joe Barrett. American Consumers confidence edged slightly lower in August from the previous month. The research group the Conference Board said today that its consumer confidence index declined to 97.4 from a revised 98.7 in July. That's less of a drop than economists expected. Labor market fears drove the dip, with views of current job availability declining for the eighth straight month after July's jobs were report showed the nation adding far fewer jobs than economists expected. U.S. stocks edged higher today. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each increased about 0.4% while the Dow rose 0.3%. The market steady session came on the heels of President Trump threatening to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. This afternoon. The Fed issued a statement defending Cook's tenure. Cook herself said that the president had no authority and she wouldn't resign. In business news, freight railroad Canadian Pacific Kansas City said that it opposes the proposed $71.5 billion merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, adding that it will result in a disproportionately large railway. Canadian Pacific Kansas City President and CEO Keith Creel said that the proposed merger that would create the first transcontinental railroad in the US Will trigger a permanent restructuring of the industry. Canadian Pacific Kansas City is the smallest of the so called Class 1 railroads and was itself the result of a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern in 2023. And Eli Lilly said today that a third late stage study of its experimental anti obesity pill hit its key goals. The company said that participants in the phase three study of orphaglipron lost an average of about 23 pounds, or 10.5% of their body weight on the highest dose. Eli Lilly also said that the drug showed a safety profile consistent with injectable GLP1 medicines such as its blockbuster Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs. The company said it now has the full clinical data package it needs to initiate global regulatory submissions for Orphaglipron this year. Coming up, why a potentially record sized corn crop is putting American farmers on edge. That's after the break.

[A]

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[B]

In some ways, it's been a good summer for us Corn farmers. Great weather means that many of them are expecting a bumper crop this year. However, many in the Corn Belt barely expect to turn a profit. And after a recent run of tough years, economically, they're worried for their bottom line. Kirk Maltese went to this year's Midwest Crop Tour, held by trade publication Pro Farmer, surveying crops across the four okay.

[D]

So I've got 50.

[A]

I've got 35 this time.

[D]

Okay, 50 and 45.

[B]

Kirk, what are you counting here? Why were you doing this?

[D]

So the way that the crop tour works is that in this case, I was counting corn. It's a 30 foot amount of corn in a row. They're trying to get a rough calculation of how much the corn field may yield. It is completely random and ultimately it's supposed to all balance out to give you a pretty good estimate of of what the corn crop might look like in that area. And then at the end of the tour, they put out their own outlook for what the national yield may look like. And it's something that traders and analysts alike look for as a counterpoint to what the USDA is putting out. The USDA's numbers, particularly this year, being met with some skepticism and questions among those in the agricultural field.

[B]

It sounds like based on these estimates, that it's supposed to be a pretty good year. Why does that have farmers worried? Why is a good crop not good?

[D]

Yeah, it's a little perplexing, right? But when you have more supply, naturally you see prices go down. And unfortunately for them, while prices they have to pay to farm their crop, that includes fertilizer, labor, maintaining equipment, buying new equipment, all those prices are stubbornly staying at the same level, if not rising. So ultimately they really can't afford to sell the crop for less. But they're losing money on every acre that they farm.

[B]

I would Think that if there's a glut of supply domestically, then there would be an opportunity to export some of what we don't need and find a bigger market. Is that possible here?

[D]

There is an increased amount of exports expected from US Farmers. The problem is, A, that it isn't keeping up with the amount of supply that farmers are producing this year, and then, B, with the ongoing turmoil surrounding tariffs and other foreign trade issues, there's a lot of questions. Are the normal sources of demand that farmers often see, are they going to be there? Where is this all going to go?

[B]

When you were out in the field, literally in your case, you spoke to some farmers about the possibility of exports. What are they saying about it?

[D]

There's a lot of concern. Most of the farmers I spoke to, or a lot anyway, were hopeful, optimistic that ultimately the turmoil and confusion surrounding tariffs and the ability to export US Corn would ultimately sort itself out and lead to something that's more positive. But there still is a lot of concern. At the nightly meetings that they held after every day of the tour, we heard from some scouts that presented more questions. For example, Peter Meyer, he's a principal economist with Muddy Boots Ag. He's scouted these fields for nearly 20 years, and he brought up a number of questions and concerns as to things seem to flip flop around a lot and how that affected prices and the ability of farmers to make plans for their future acres. I don't like the export market. Brazil is definitely in bed with China. There's no question about it. We've become the supplier of last resort to the export market, so we need to find more domestic demand. It's a difficult thing. And at the same time, even if tariffs are enacted, how long are they going to stay there? It basically all amounts to an ability for the farmer to plan ahead.

[B]

That was WSJ reporter Kirk Maltese. Thanks, Kirk.

[D]

Thank you.

[B]

The Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again agenda, led by top health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has shaken big food companies that were already reeling. Executives at big processed food makers like Kraft, Heinz, General Mills and Nestle are figuring out how much of what Kennedy and Maha want will actually happen and how it could affect their bottom lines. Jess Newman covers food for the Journal and joins me now. Jesse, what is the challenge here for some of these companies?

[C]

Well, the challenge, I would say, is multifold. You have this pretty powerful political movement that has swept into Washington along with RFK Jr. And it is many, many pronged. He is not a fan of processed food. He has called sugar poison. He wants to remove artificial dyes and all kinds of food additives from the food supp. And there's multiple levels at which the Maha movement is playing out. Some is at the federal level, where RFK Jr. Has essentially said he would rather rely on companies and their voluntary initiatives to achieve some of his goals than legislate. So there's figuring out how to deal with Secretary Kennedy's priorities, and then there is what's happening at the state level. Someone in our story referred to dealing with Maha as battling the mythical hydra. Someone else referred to it as playing whack a mole. So. So it's really just the challenge of navigating this environment in which a lot of these consumer preferences are coming to the fore.

[B]

I'm interested in how companies are handling this, especially as the demands evolve. And as you say, the target continues to move.

[C]

We started seeing in June a lot of big food companies have all set pledge to remove artificial dyes from their US Products. And beyond dyes, what executives and their teams are really trying to assess is like, how much of what Kennedy and Motto are talking about here, how much of this is actually going to happen. And so you've got companies that are assembling special teams. These are MAHA task forces to draw up lists and heat maps to try to track the ingredients as they are drawing attention and trying to figure out, okay, which ones do we need to remove? Which ones are we going to have to label based on different state laws? And so they're really just trying to wrap their heads around what the big concerns are and where they will be required to take action and which priorities might. Might they be able to wait out.

[B]

That was WSJ reporter Jesse Newman. Thanks, Jesse.

[C]

Yeah, thanks so much.

[B]

And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Pierre Bienname with supervising producer Michael Cosmides. I'm Alex Osoleff for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning.

[D]

Thanks for listening.