When President Donald Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become the nation’s top health official, his administration inherited a sprawling list of ideas to “Make America Healthy Again,” from banning TV drug advertisements to dropping restrictions on raw milk.

While those unorthodox proposals—and Kennedy’s discredited views on vaccines—have dominated recent headlines, a slate of more familiar ideas have attracted interest on Capitol Hill and across the U.S.: making school lunches healthier, banning certain food additives, and cracking down on ultraprocessed foods linked to obesity and diabetes.

For decades, public health groups have called for similar steps, lobbying federal leaders and mounting public campaigns about the risks of American diets loaded with salt, sugar, and fat.

As Kennedy faces Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday and Thursday, health advocates find themselves in an uncomfortable position: voicing cautious support for some of Kennedy’s ideas while warning of the catastrophic consequences of others.

“If there’s an opportunity to advance the public health, you have to seize it,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official who now leads the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. “So you can’t ignore the guy on everything because you oppose him on some things.”

Like many experts, Lurie says Kennedy’s record on vaccines should disqualify him from becoming health secretary. And he’s deeply skeptical Kennedy can deliver on his ideas for food and nutrition.

Kennedy’s confirmation is far from certain in the Senate, where he is expected to face pointed questioning from both........

© Fast Company