WASHINGTON (TNND) — When it comes to the food we eat, something has changed in America, with a disturbing trend documented in research in 2023.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the prevalence of food allergies had increased by 50% since the 1990s, making it a serious public health concern.
Among those allergies, those to peanuts appear to be especially prevalent, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S Health and Human Services Secretary, during a Forum put on by the Food Allergy Fund on Monday.
I had 11 siblings and around 70 first cousins and I didn’t know anyone in my school….I went to a bunch of different schools, camps…I had never heard of anybody with a peanut allergy,” he said.
He also shared that five of his seven children have allergies and he doesn’t think enough has been done to find out why, announcing a new initiative to more thoroughly study the causes and solutions.
According to Kennedy and other health officials, one key culprit could be the American diet, and what’s known as the microbiome, the microorganisms like bacteria and viruses that exist in our environment and in our gut.
“We’re not treating the microbiome with respect; it may be because we don’t understand it,” said Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA Commissioner.
“This is the frontier of health. That’s what a Group of researchers at Harvard Medical School believe. They believe there are some microbes that are deficient in people with food allergies,” he added.
Dr. Makary said for decades, questions that should have been researched in this realm have not been.
“If you go to Fairfax County School District (in Virginia), you’ll notice that the occurrence of peanut allergies is extremely high, but not among the international students, not among students from families that recently immigrated to the United States,” he said.
The Trump Administration has taken aim at food dyes but has been highly focused on ultraprocessed foods- found to significantly increase the risk of developing growths or polyps that can lead to cancer, according to a new study published in the major cancer journal, JAMA Oncology, just days ago.
It found those with the highest intake of ultra-processed foods had a 45% higher risk of developing those growths by age 50.
Those same foods have already been tied to increased risks of diabetes in poor and rural areas.
“We’re giving the poorest Americans diabetes from when they’re little and we’re paying for the diabetes through Medicaid, so it makes no sense,” Kennedy said.
One change already underway as a result is that several states have already signed on to a program that, starting next year, will ban SNAP benefits from being used to purchase soda, candy and other junk food.
West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas joined Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, and Utah in signing waivers.
Top Trump Administration officials hope all 50 states will eventually sign on.
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