No brainer health policies - The Next #62

Plus why food dyes are toxic, getting soda off of SNAP, and curing autism

Hi there, and welcome to The Next - my take on health, wellness, and company building.

In the last few years I’ve founded 3 health brands (Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, Surely non-alc wine). I’m now working on Truemed, which allows health and wellness brands to accept HSA/FSA funds. Previously, I worked in tech and had no experience in CPG, DTC, or any other 3-letter industries.

If you missed past episodes, I recommend checking out The Great American Poisoning, my manifesto on what’s going on with the chronic disease crisis. Otherwise, let’s dive in!

MAHA is happening!

The MAHA movement is moving! Though there’s a lot of focus on RFK and the federal level, I think many folks are missing out on where much of the action is happening: at the state level.

As of this week, West Virginia leads the nation with its sweeping ban on artificial food dyes. Texas also votes on a bill this week that would have a similar impact (as Calley + I testified 2 weeks ago). Currently, there are 26 states across the nation with legislation to ban or regulate artificial dyes.

Though this won’t solve all of America’s health problems, it’s a start. But why are these food dyes so bad?

Let’s take Red 3 for example. In 1990, the FDA banned the dye's use in cosmetics and topical medication after research found increased cancer rates among rodents who ate the dye. Yet for 25 years, the FDA took the position that Red 3 was safe for human consumption, but not for human cosmetics!

If this sounds insane, well, it is. And until literally a month ago, Red 3 was found in thousands of school lunches and commonly consumed food products.

Unfortunately, Americans consume a lot of food dyes: about 15 million lbs per year (5x more than in 1955). The average American child consumes ~45.5 mg of food dyes daily, with the 90th percentile getting a whopping 89 mg per day. For perspective, some studies have found behavioral effects in children at just 30 mg.

That box of mac and cheese with the unnaturally orange powder? The rainbow-colored cereal your kid begs for? The sports drink that somehow glows in the dark? They're packed with synthetic food dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1.

These aren't natural colorants extracted from plants or minerals. They're petroleum-derived chemicals synthesized in labs that have never existed in our food history. And we're putting these novel compounds into practically everything marketed to children. Fun!

As we’ve discussed, the FDA takes a hands-off approach to regulating environmental toxins. Unlike drugs, which require extensive safety testing before approval, food additives fall under the "Generally Recognized As Safe" (GRAS) system, which allows companies to conduct their own safety studies and tell the FDA to move along, this compound is Definitely Safe.

The FDA last thoroughly reviewed the safety of food dyes in 2011. Even then, they acknowledged that artificial food dyes might cause behavioral problems in children, but decided this wasn't enough to ban them (or require warning labels, like the EU does).

The EU has either banned or restricted many dyes that flow freely through American foods:

• Red 40: Requires warning label in EU stating "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children"

• Yellow 5 (Tartrazine): Requires warning label in EU

• Yellow 6: Requires warning label in EU

• Blue 1: Restricted in many EU countries

• Blue 2: Banned in Norway and Finland

• Green 3: Banned in EU

• Red 3: Banned in cosmetics in EU, restricted in food

When Mars, Kraft, Kellogg's and other American food giants sell products in Europe, they reformulate them using natural colorants like beetroot, turmeric, and paprika extract. Yes, you read that right: American companies make healthier versions of their products to sell in other countries, but continue to poison their fellow Americans 🇺🇸.

The most well-documented effect of artificial food dyes is on children's behavior. The breakthrough came with a 2007 Southampton study, which found that certain food dyes increased hyperactivity in children from the general population – not just those diagnosed with ADHD.

This study was so compelling that it prompted the EU to require warning labels. A meta-analysis by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) found that 64% of the studies they reviewed showed some evidence that food dyes affect children's behavior.

Dr. Joel Nigg, a researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, estimates that about 8% of children with ADHD may have symptoms directly related to food dye consumption. Given that 9.4% of children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of kids whose symptoms might improve just by removing these unnecessary chemicals.

The food industry funds research that – surprise! – finds no problems with food dyes. A 2022 review found that industry-funded studies on food additives were 8.4x more likely to report favorable results compared to non-industry-funded studies.

Removing these tasteless, colorless, harmful dyes should be a political no-brainer. Yet somehow, there are state (and federal) representatives in the pockets of Big Food who say that it’s “nanny state” to somehow ban compounds that are poisoning Americans and our kids.

The dye situation exemplifies a broader problem in our food system: we've normalized the idea that adding barely-tested chemicals to our food supply is fine, and that consumers must prove harm rather than have manufacturers prove safety.

Our entire processed food ecosystem depends on vibrant, attention-grabbing colors to sell products. Food companies know that kids choose foods based on color, and they've spent decades conditioning us to expect candy to be neon bright and cereals to look like unicorn vomit.

The EU has shown that we can foods without synthetic dyes. American food companies have shown they're capable of using natural alternatives – they just prefer not to within their own borders. It’s the trans fat situation all over again!

Soda on SNAP

Here's another own goal: today, we spend billions of taxpayer dollars giving people soda, then billions more treating the diseases caused by drinking it.

SNAP is the 5th largest program in the federal budget, at a bit over $150B/yr. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program started in 1939 as a pilot program to deliver nutrition to lower income and food insecure individuals. The key word there is nutrition, something soda and candy completely lack. Yet today, 18% of all SNAP funds go towards soda, and 62% of SNAP funds go towards ultraprocessed foods.

These foods are proven to contribute to obesity and a slew of related health problems in children and adults. That means diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions are all on the menu. Because most food stamp beneficiaries also are on Medicaid or other government-funded health programs, taxpayers pick up the tab when their health deteriorates.

And what a cost it is. In 2015 and 2016, obesity-related treatment cost Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health programs about $60 billion annually, with both state and federal governments footing the bill.

I can't think of a more insane policy in America today. We subsidize addictive, nutritionally bankrupt foods with one hand, and with the other, we write massive checks to cover the healthcare costs when people inevitably get sick. It's like setting someone's house on fire and then charging them for the fire truck.

Over the next decade, more than $60 billion in taxpayer dollars are expected to pay for soda alone. Soft drinks are the most popular item purchased with food stamps, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Stanford has estimated that eliminating soda and sugary drinks from food stamp purchases would save 141k kids from obesity and 240k adults from Type 2 diabetes. Restricting purchases of other unhealthy foods like candy would multiply those health benefits.

When I testified in Utah several weeks ago, a Big Food lobbyist claimed that removing soda from SNAP would “restrict choice” and was “nanny state”. Unfortunately for Mr. Lobbyist, SNAP already restricts plenty of items. Healthy foods (like roasted chicken and fresh soup) aren’t eligible because they're prepared for immediate consumption. Because the government already bans these nutritious items, excluding unhealthy foods should be a no-brainer.

There is a bipartisan consensus that SNAP should incentivize nutrition for Americans. The longer we wait, the more expensive it gets − leaving taxpayers and millions of low-income Americans to suffer.

I’m encouraged that there are state leaders in Utah, Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, Idaho, West Virginia, California, and others who are fixing our food system. For the first time since I started diving into this problem, I truly feel like we are going to fix our food system and make Americans healthy. It will require time and bold action, but I believe we can get there 🤞.

😌 Dope stuff on the internet

Some of my favorite things since the last newsletter (note: I don’t get paid to recommend anything here):

• 📰 Article - 8 years in, and Kettle & Fire got our first profile in Forbes! Check it out (or use https://12ft.io/ to hop the paywall). It’s strange: though we are 8 years in, in most ways I feel like we are just getting started. 8 years ago, nobody knew what bone broth was, nobody was talking about The Great American Poisoning, and nobody was focused on nutrient density and microplastics.
  That’s all changing, and I believe more than ever that there are huge opportunities for a new kind of food company that prioritizes human health over shareholder profits. And I think this new kind of food company will be an even better investment than any public CPGs today.
  

• 📚 Book rec - Flowers for Algernon is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in a long time. It explores the relational side of what happens when/if we invent technology that hugely improves human IQ. Personally, I think this will happen within our lifetimes: embryo selection can already drive 1 standard deviation improvement in IQ, and I suspect that metabolic interventions can also drive benefits here.
  

• ⌚ Cool product - You gotta try the Kettle & Fire + Maui Nui venison bone broth. I’m so proud of this partnership: our team has some of the highest standards in the food world, and Maui Nui is doing amazing work controlling the population of invasive axis deer on Maui while also creating food for people. Plus, it’s just downright delicious.
  

• 🎵 Music - This was my favorite set from last year (which I had the fortune to see live). I’ve not found much good music lately, so this will have to do!
  

• 🏀 Random - I downloaded Instagram and have been kind of using it for the first time ever. I don’t really think I’m a photo/video content kind of guy, but I’m here if you want to follow along.
  

• 🔥Hot take - I have next-to-zero scientific basis on which to state this. But I think that some versions of autism (and conditions like it) are quite likely to be curable. There are strange signs that autism improves when treated with antifungals, hyperbaric oxygen, heavy metals detox, thaimine, and other metabolic treatments. In one notable case, an autistic child completely recovered after receiving treatment for mold poisoning.
  I strongly believe that developing therapies for autism will be one of the most important things society can do in the coming decades. Autism is already at record levels, and something like 1 in 33 kids born in CA today has autism of some form. The problem is real today and is going to be a MUCH bigger deal in the next decade. I think it’s solvable, and would be extremely interested in funding a moonshot to solve/address autism.
  

• 🙋‍♂️ Ask - Honestly, I’d love more music if you have some. Have been super off my music game the last month!

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I’ll be spending a bunch of time in NYC in April. If you live in the city and want to meet up, let me know! I might even put together a meetup if there are enough people who want to get together.

Until then, stay healthy - see you next month!

• Justin