‘Show us the safety data’

(NewsNation) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t seem to be a fan of beloved Massachusetts-based chain Dunkin’ or its iced coffee offerings.

At an “Eat Real Food” rally in Austin, Texas, last week, Kennedy called out the nation’s two largest coffee chains, Dunkin’ and Starbucks, The Boston Globe reported.

“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,’” Kennedy said, according to the Globe.

It’s unclear whether Kennedy was aware that Dunkin’ recently started selling 48-ounce buckets of iced coffee at certain New Hampshire and Massachusetts locations when he made his remarks.

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RFK’s comments elicit backlash, some support

Kennedy’s anti-sugary iced coffee rhetoric has elicited backlash online, particularly among Dunkin’ lovers.

Democratic Mass. Gov. Maura Healey posted an image to X with a Dunkin’ cup above the words “Come and take it,” reminiscent of the flag used at the start of the Texas Revolution in 1835.

Others disagreed with the governor’s input on the matter and voiced approval for Kennedy’s fight for healthier food standards.

“Imagine being upset that someone wants to take unsafe ingredients out of our food,” one person wrote in response to Healey’s post.

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RFK working to overhaul food ingredient approval system

“The reforms aim to ensure American foods follow the highest safety and nutritional standards globally,” MAHA Action, Kennedy’s nonprofit health advocacy group, said in a statement explaining Kennedy’s announcement.

Kennedy has worked to overhaul the food ingredient approval system. He said in Austin that this will be the “closure of the GRAS loophole,” referring to the “Generally Recognized as Safe” policy, according to NewsNation partner The Hill.

Kennedy criticized the policy in a “60 Minutes” interview last month. He argued that the exemption allows food companies to independently verify the safety of food additives without the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight.

“That loophole was hijacked by the industry, and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply,” Kennedy told correspondent Bill Whitaker. “In Europe, there’s only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food.”

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The National Association of Manufacturers pushed back on Kennedy’s claim in a report released last Wednesday, arguing that the U.S. food and beverage supply chain produces “safe, abundant, accessible and nutritious” options for Americans.

NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.

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