RFK Jr. threatens to go after Dunkin' and Starbucks: "Show us the safety data"

Austin, Texas - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently threatened to force large food chains like Dunkin' Donuts to prove their ingredients are safe.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently suggested Dunkin' Donuts and other companies should be forced to prove their products are safe.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently suggested Dunkin' Donuts and other companies should be forced to prove their products are safe.  © Collage: JUSTIN SULLIVAN & Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Last week, Kennedy gave a speech during a rally in Texas, where he criticized food chains for contributing to making children sick and suggested it's time for something to be done.

"We're going to ask Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks, 'Show us the safety data that show that it's okay for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,'" RFK Jr. told the crowd.

"I don't think they're going to be able to do it," he added.

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Kennedy has made solving what he calls the childhood obesity and chronic illness epidemics the focus of his role as secretary.

Most recently, Kennedy did the controversial move of flipping the nation's long-pushed food pyramid upside down.

He has also urged Americans to stay away from ultraprocessed food while touting consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy – foods many nutritionists had previously discouraged.

On Wednesday, Governor Maura Healey Massachusetts, where Dunkin' Donuts was founded, shared an X post with a picture resembling the 1835 "Come and Take It" flag, but in place of the gun is a Dunkin' coffee cup.

Cover photo: Collage: JUSTIN SULLIVAN & Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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