Ingredient swaps in ultra-processed foods won't Make America Healthy Again

Manufacturers prepare to push back on some regulatory changes

Mar 04, 2025

Companies replace artificial ingredients with natural ones

Food companies are reformulating processed products in anticipation of upcoming changes to HHS standards, which are expected to include bans on harmful preservatives and artificial flavors. The Patriot Journal’s Cole Harrison, citing The Daily Wire, reported that snack giants like Mondelēz International, which owns several popular brands, will begin replacing these harmful ingredients.

From ‘The Daily Wire’:
According to Robert Moskow, a food industry analyst for investment bank TD Cowen, food and beverage brands will proactively start to remove artificial flavors and preservatives that they believe won’t pass new standards…
Americans will also likely see changes at Mondelēz International, one of the largest snack companies in the world, which owns brands like Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, Clif Bar, Cadbury, and others.

Mondelēz, Harrison reported, “has committed to adopting European-style recipes with fewer artificial ingredients.”

Harrison also noted that restaurants like Steak ‘N Shake are returning to using beef tallow for their french fries.

Steak ‘n Shake recently announced its return to traditional cooking methods, switching to beef tallow for frying – a practice many Americans remember from their childhood.

Market forces or regulatory pressure?

Harrison argues that food companies are reformulating their products in response to market forces rather than government pressure. Market forces, as defined by Market Business News, refer to factors driven by consumer demand rather than government intervention.

“Market Forces are the factors that influence the price and availability of goods and services in a market economy, i.e. an economy with the minimum of government involvement.

However, the timing of these changes—coinciding with RFK Jr.'s confirmation and the establishment of the MAHA Commission—raises questions about whether consumer demand or regulations are the main reason for the changes being made now.

His article, “Days After RFK Made Head of HHS, Companies Implement Health Changes,” suggests a direct link between these shifts and his confirmation. Likewise, The Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo, in the article referenced by Harrison, notes that these ingredient changes are in anticipation of the MAHA Commission’s upcoming directives, which will set new standards.

The “MAHA Commission,” established in an executive order, asks for a strategy to “Make Our Children Healthy Again” in about six months from now — but changes from the private sector already seem to be in motion.

Food Navigator-USA’s Ryan Daily elaborates on the motivation behind early changes in his discussion of the food industry transitioning from synthetic food dyes to natural alternatives. He quoted food scientist Bryan Hitchcock, who remarked that, although the same products without artificial additives may be available in other countries, introducing the formulations in the U.S. could involve costly supply-chain adjustments and extensive consumer testing. It will involve researching new ingredients, developing and testing substitute products, and even label changes that require time and expense.

Changes to preservatives and flavors

Since new regulatory standards for preservatives and flavors seem inevitable and the process is not simple, it makes sense for companies to make these changes with as much lead time as possible to make sure they get it right. As Food Tech Congress noted in its tweet:

If it doesn’t taste good - it won’t last in the market.

Food Tech Congress quoted Shiri Ranot, marketing and business development VP at marketing agency Incredo, who said,

The number one driver in food purchase is taste. If we’re not going to meet taste expectations, then all of that food is medicine talk, is going to remain niche.

Companies will resist removing seed oils

Preservatives and flavors aren’t the only ingredients facing potential new regulations. According to Food Business, another source in Harrison’s article, Moskow expects the Commission will also target seed oils.

“This aligns with Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation (who has advised RFK Jr.) of limiting seed oils because they are inflammatory,” he said. “Most packaged foods use seed oils (e.g. canola, soybean, corn oils) because they are inexpensive, withstand industrial processing and do not go rancid for a very long time.”

However, while manufacturers seem open to reformulating preservatives and dyes, they are likely to resist changes to seed oils, which present a greater challenge. Industry execs plan to present studies at hearings that will claim the oils to be safe, Prestigiacomo reported.

Though companies seem willing to make adjustments to items like dyes and preservatives, Moskow said there would be strong push-back over seed oils since they are so inexpensive and versatile. Constituents of the agribusiness industry will likely present studies at upcoming hearings to make the case that the oils are safe, the food analyst said.

This mirrors the sugar industry's past strategy of funding studies by Harvard scientists to shift the blame for risks attributed to sugar onto fats, a tactic exposed in 2016 by NPR.

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded research that downplayed the risks of sugar and highlighted the hazards of fat, according to a newly published article in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The article draws on internal documents to show that an industry group called the Sugar Research Foundation wanted to "refute" concerns about sugar's possible role in heart disease. The SRF then sponsored research by Harvard scientists that did just that. The result was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1967, with no disclosure of the sugar industry funding.

Tweaks are good but still cut back on these foods

Marion Nawfal celebrated Steak ‘N Shake’s promised changes with the following tweet:

Steak ‘N Shake gets RFK’d: First fast food chain to ditch seed oils
. . .
Health advocates are call[ing] this a major win in the fight to Make America Healthy Again—now, could McDonalds be next?

But, as Dr. Nisha Patel emphasized in the tweets below, frying in beef tallow and manufacturing Oreos and Ritz crackers made for U.S. consumers as they make them in Europe won’t improve cardiometabolic health since they don’t address the root causes of poor cardiovascular health; it is a “distraction” from the real problems.

Even with these ingredient swaps, she says, the real issue remains: these foods should still be eaten in moderation.

Frying fries in beef tallow instead of seed oils; using cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and removing dyes from sugary cereals doesn’t make them magically healthier. At the end of the day, these are still foods we need to eat less of, even with these tweaks!

Reformulation is not a substitute for real dietary change.

Related articles: