Over the past week or so, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement has impacted federal and state policy regarding the fluoridation of public water, food oversight, and vaccination priorities.
Utah, for example, will become the first state in the nation to ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water.
Currently, only two counties in the state add the chemical to their water supply, but nearly half of all state residents live in those counties. The legislation is sponsored by Republican Rep. Stephanie Gricius, who argues that it’s expensive to add fluoride, and nixing this addition is about promoting “individual choice.” The bill notably moves to allow pharmacists to prescribe fluoride tablets to those who need the mineral. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox has said he will sign the bill into law, which would take effect on May 7.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the figurehead of the MAHA movement, has routinely spoken out against the practice of fluoridation. Just before the election, he posted on X that on Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency, he would advise that all U.S. water systems remove fluoride from public water. He’s also called fluoride an “industrial waste” and says it’s associated with numerous negative effects, like arthritis, IQ loss, and thyroid disease.
RFK Jr. has highlighted other studies and a ruling from an Obama-appointed federal judge back in October that said fluoride in drinking water presents an “unreasonable risk” and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to respond.
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However, it’s not just Kennedy and MAHA figures debating fluoridation practices. Dr. Leana Wen, for example, has said that such a policy must be re-evaluated. Wen is notably the former president of the Planned Parenthood abortion mill and strongly opposed Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary, calling him a “conspiracy theorist.”
“Yes, it is true that, historically, fluoridating public water saved a lot of teeth, that it was good for oral health, but times have changed and the incremental benefit is not nearly as much as it was before the widespread availability of fluoridated toothpaste,” Wen recently told ABC News.
“There are still about three million Americans living in areas where the fluoride level is above 1.5 mg/L, where harm has been associated,” she continued. “I think there’s a good question about what should the level be? Maybe the EPA’s maximum level should be lowered. Maybe people living in areas with high fluoride concentration should be told that that’s the case. Maybe certain individuals who are particularly vulnerable, like pregnant women and young children, should be told to use fluoride water filters.”
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“I definitely think that more studies are needed,” Wen added. “But in the meantime … it would not be unreasonable to give people a choice, that people in those areas might want to know if that’s the case.”
As noted by Wen, proponents of water fluoridation argue that it’s safe in drinking water at low levels and is important for oral health, which could impact one’s overall health. They also say that it’s particularly helpful for lower-income communities, arguing that toothpaste and mouthwash with fluoride might not be as affordable or accessible for everyone.
A number of other states and communities have been battling out the question of fluoridation since RFK Jr.’s rise in the last election. And though Utah will be the first state to ban fluoridation, Hawaii also does not add fluoride to its water supply, though there is no ban in place.
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On vaccine protocol, the National Institutes of Health will stop spending money to find out why Americans are hesitant to take vaccines. The NIH, which is part of HHS, is terminating or scaling back more than 40 related grants and has said that such spending no longer aligns with NIH priorities.
Additionally, as previously reported by The Daily Wire, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also studying whether there is any link between vaccinations and the rise in autism. A CDC study from 2020 found that one in 36 children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with autism.
On food, RFK Jr. has directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revise a rule that allows companies to “self-affirm” the safety of food ingredients. Under the revision, manufacturers will have to publicly submit safety data for new ingredients. HHS says such enhanced oversight will “bring transparency to American consumers.”
Also, on Monday, Kennedy met with executives from major food companies, including PepsiCo, General Mills, and Kellogg’s, and urged them to eliminate certain dyes from their recipes. The Daily Wire has previously covered the other ways the MAHA movement has impacted the food industry from the very start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Related: ‘MAHA’ Update: Here Are RFK’s Latest Moves On Big Food And Big Pharma
