Why Bernie Sanders is going after ultra-processed foods

Business Insider

In an exclusive interview with Business Insider's Mia de Graaf Senator Bernie Sanders talks about his push to improve labels on ultraprocessed foods across the US, RFK Jr's plans to overhaul the industry and the obesity epidemic.

Transcript

00:00In this little bottle of Dr. Pepper, there are 15 teaspoons of sugar.

00:06There's a warning label here telling you this is really something that kids should not be drinking,

00:12that has a whole lot of calories in this.

00:14This is 240 calories, right, in this one bottle.

00:16So the industry has done a very good job in selling us products

00:22that are cheap to produce and make us unhealthy,

00:24and that's something Congress has got to deal with.

00:27Bernie Sanders is one of the loudest voices in the room when it comes to ultra-processed food,

00:32and now he's pushing for warning labels on ultra-processed products.

00:36He's here with me today to talk about his plans.

00:39I'm Mia de Graaf, health editor at Business Insider.

00:42The first thing that I want to talk about to do with transparency,

00:45I think it's a bit of a black box, that for your average citizen,

00:48it's hard to understand what stronghold industry lobbyists have

00:52over US politics and our food system.

00:55Major industries in this country, whether it's financial services or in health care or in food,

01:01spend huge amounts of money on campaign contributions.

01:05So they give you a lot of money when you run for Congress,

01:08and that gives them access to you in a way that ordinary citizens do not have.

01:12So they can come in and say, look, these are my problems.

01:14This is what I need.

01:15And you know what?

01:16I did put $50,000 through our super PAC into your campaign.

01:20Furthermore, they have lobbyists running all over Washington, D.C.

01:24And often these lobbyists are very well paid.

01:26They're very smart.

01:28In some cases, former leaders of the Democratic or Republican parties.

01:31So they have clout.

01:32Oh, you know, I was in Congress.

01:34I know what you're going through.

01:35And here's really what you've got to be doing.

01:38When it comes to other countries and their nutrition policy,

01:42are there any that you're envious of?

01:44Sure.

01:44I mean, there are many countries that are way ahead of where we are.

01:47I'll just give you one example.

01:49This is a bottle of Coca-Cola in the United States.

01:52No nutritional information, no warning label.

01:55This is one in Mexico.

01:56And I don't know that Mexico is doing more than other countries.

01:59Says excess sugars, excess calories, caffeine warning, not recommended for children.

02:06And there are other countries that have gone further.

02:09So what we need to do is when a parent goes out shopping,

02:12they need to know that there are products that are just not healthy for their kids.

02:17In the United States, we have not reached that stage.

02:19Other countries are doing a lot better than we are.

02:21What do you say to concerns that the front-of-package labels

02:24are just going to be a distraction that might delay further action?

02:27I think it's one thing that you've got to do.

02:30It's important for parents to know what the health impact is

02:35of the products they're buying for their kids.

02:36I mean, that's kind of common sense.

02:38I think if most parents knew that there were, again, 15 teaspoons of sugar in this drink,

02:44I suspect many parents would say,

02:46sorry, Joe, you can't have that.

02:49And would put pressure on the industry to start producing healthier products.

02:54Speaking about industry reform,

02:56I have to ask you about RFK Jr., who's been nominated for HHS secretary.

02:59He says he's going to overhaul our food system

03:03and specifically remove processed food from school meals.

03:07Do you think that's doable?

03:08Where do you agree and disagree?

03:10Well, I think a lot of what RFK is saying is kind of crazy and driven by conspiracy theory.

03:16Some of what he's saying is not crazy.

03:18I think the fact that in America now,

03:22we have an obesity epidemic.

03:2440% of adults are obese.

03:2720% of kids are obese.

03:30And that is directly related to the epidemic we have in diabetes.

03:37So you have millions and billions of people struggling with diabetes.

03:40Many of them are overweight.

03:43And it is costing us an estimated $400 billion a year to deal with diabetes.

03:50A huge amount of money.

03:52So it goes without saying that anybody with a brain in his or her head

03:56wants to deal with issues, get to the cause of the problem.

03:58And I think processed food and the kind of sugar and salt

04:02that we have in products that our kids and adults are ingesting

04:07is an important part of addressing that crisis.

04:11Could you explain what the stakes are and why Americans should care about this matter?

04:16When Kennedy talks about an unhealthy society, he's right.

04:22The amount of chronic illness that we have is just extraordinary.

04:26The obesity rates have risen for kids three times since the 1970s.

04:32So we're getting more and more obese,

04:35which leads to all kinds of other health-related problems.

04:39We have a problem right now actually recruiting young people into the military

04:43because of health-related issues.

04:45Our kids are not healthy enough.

04:46So in the long run, you want a healthy society as it ended itself.

04:50We want our people to have long lives, productive lives, happy lives.

04:53That's what we want.

04:55And if the industry is giving our kids food that is making them overweight,

05:00leading to diabetes and other illnesses,

05:02clearly that's an issue that we've got to deal with.

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