'I Think These Dyes Are Safe': GOP Lawmaker Questions Sec. RFK Jr. On Dyes Used In Food

Forbes Breaking News

At a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) questioned Sec. RFK Jr. about the banning of certain dyes used in food.

Transcript

00:00Anyway, let me recognize Mr. Fleischman.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:04Mr. Secretary, good morning.

00:05I'm Chuck Fleischman.

00:06I represent the 3rd District of Tennessee.

00:09That's East Tennessee, Chattanooga, Oak Ridge.

00:12I want to thank you for stepping up in this important role and serving our great president,

00:17President Trump, in all of your endeavors.

00:20I want to begin with a thank you because I am going to have some questions later about

00:29some other issues, but thanking you for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

00:34under HHS.

00:36What it does with Oak Ridge, which was the birthplace of the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge National

00:42Laboratory in my district, it works to make sure that the Energy Employee Occupational

00:49Illness Compensation Program at the Department of Energy is run well, and it is.

00:54This keeps our hardworking civilian employees insured and cared for long after their years

00:59of service.

01:00So that's a profound thank you to you and yours for running that so well.

01:06Mr. Secretary, I'm going to talk a little bit about the Food and Drug Administration.

01:15That is under my dear colleague and friend Andy Harris's jurisdiction.

01:19I chair Energy and Water, but while I have you here, Mr. Secretary, I know the FDA has

01:24taken significant steps to ban or phase out synthetic food colorings over the years, and

01:30I respect that.

01:31The current colors, though, Mr. Secretary, that are used and have been approved by FDA have

01:37been deemed safe for many years.

01:40Candidly, I represent many snack manufacturers.

01:43I'm a big fan of the oatmeal cream pie, and in many ways, I have M&Ms in my district.

01:56I know you're going to come and visit me in a couple weeks.

01:59We can all have some M&Ms and Little Debbies together.

02:03But on a very serious note, we want to make sure that FDA has done due diligence to ensure

02:11the safety of these replacement colors.

02:13Will you work with me on that?

02:15Because candidly, I think these dyes are safe.

02:18They've been approved.

02:19But really, trying to find substitutes, the costs, we've seen estimates five to ten times

02:24try to fix that.

02:25Will you work with me on that, sir?

02:27Absolutely, Congressman.

02:29And one of the, I think, the really important accomplishments that we've done over the past

02:35hundred days, is we've been working with the food industry, and we found the food industry

02:41very, very receptive.

02:43We think we have good science that links almost all of these dyes with ADHD, with neurological

02:48injury, with cancer.

02:51And they've agreed to phase out the two worst of them, which is orange bee and red citrus

02:59number three, within two months, and the other seven dyes within two years.

03:08And some of the food companies, like Tyson's Food, have already eliminated them because of

03:15our talks.

03:16They asked us to do one thing.

03:18They said, can we try to fast track the vegetable dye substitutes that we need?

03:25And we have fast tracked those, and we've already got them approved.

03:29So we have three dyes approved this week that are substitute dyes that can be used by the

03:34food industry.

03:35And we're going to continue to respond to the needs of the food industry.

03:39We're going to continue to work with them.

03:42And I'm happy to work with you, Congressman.

03:44And I thank you.

03:45I thank you for your question and your answer and your response.

03:48Mr. Secretary, I wanted to talk with you about this subcommittee's oversight of the 340B

03:53Drug Discount Program.

03:55I'm a strong supporter of that.

03:57I have hospitals in my district.

03:59It provides funding to safety net community health centers, hospitals, and other health care

04:03providers with discounts from prescription drug sales.

04:09CHCs and rural hospitals across Tennessee have become dependent upon this program.

04:13Just a question, sir.

04:15We've heard that this department will move oversight from HRSA to CMS.

04:22Can you either confirm or deny that, sir?

04:24I can't because of the court order.

04:26But I can tell you, you know, the 340B program, as you know, it's not a straightforward program

04:36because it was originally intended to for 100 institutions that were serving very poor communities.

04:44It's now grown to 27,000 institutions.

04:48The patients themselves seldom get the benefits of the drug reduction.

04:53And actually, 100,000 if you look at all the kind of satellite institutions.

04:58But we also recognize that it is the lifeblood of rural hospitals right now.

05:04So, we can't mess with that program without giving those rural hospitals something else

05:10that is going to support them.

05:11And we understand that.

05:13Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

05:14I can tell you that drug companies are worried because if we do what President Trump wants,

05:21which is, you know, through compliance with the executive order to go to the most favored nation,

05:25it will lower the price of all drugs, which means it will further lower the cost of 340B drugs.

05:32And they consider that existential.

05:34So, that is a problem that we all need to work out together.

05:38Mr. Bocan.

05:40Thank you, Mr. Bocan.

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