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Is RFK Jr.’s push to remove artificial ingredients from food a positive step? Gemma White, Columnist, shares her thoughts.

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00:00Easier said than done though, and it is difficult to know the difference between what is ultra-processed and what is actual whole foods.
00:0760% of people say identifying ultra-processed foods, UPFs, is more confusing than they're doing their taxes, which is a concern.
00:15But there are some of the things that are in here that I didn't know were ultra-processed, and in fact I thought would have been a healthy alternative.
00:20Oat milk, vegan meats, protein bars, they're all UPFs, they're all full of junk that is really not that good for us.
00:27It is all about the language used around them. You mentioned, you know, just because something says it's organic, it doesn't mean it's not going to have the additives in it.
00:35Just because something's wholemeal or wholegrain, it doesn't mean it's not going to have additives in it.
00:39But we have been quite seduced by this healthy language around food that we think, oh, that's got to be good for us. It says so on the packet.
00:46Well, a saviour has come to the fore, and the Make America Great Again, Make America Health Again, which is a superb tagline for RFK.
00:55Gemma, a positive movement?
00:57So, I think anything that focuses on the health of a nation, you have to, you know, consider it positive.
01:04And his remit, RFK's remit, was to tackle artificial ingredients in foods and drinks.
01:09So, to that end, he's doing, you know, what he was supposed to set out to do.
01:13He has this belief that there's a chronic illness epidemic across the U.S. where 40% of adults and 20% of children are classed as obese.
01:22Now, and it's a neat little soundbite.
01:24You've got, you know, Make America Great Again, and now you've got Maha, Make America Healthy Again.
01:28Now, I do think that, in general, there's so much information out there that, on the one hand, people know what they should be eating.
01:37You know, as the nutritionist said, you know, you should be eating a healthy diet.
01:41But accessing that can be very difficult, especially in places like America where you have to drive to the supermarket.
01:49Towns are not planned so that you can just pop to the shops and walk around.
01:53So, you're getting your steps in as well.
01:54The scope around, you know, obesity, around healthy living is not ever just about food.
02:02It's about so many different things around it, socioeconomics, food deserts, how far you have to go to find healthy foods.
02:09You can't just tackle one thing and expect, you know, it to have big effects.

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