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A potential Trump administration heart disease czar has vowed to treat processed junk food “like the new tobacco” if he’s recruited.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, who became famous for dissenting against the official COVID narrative, is currently in talks with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team about taking on a role advising the incoming admin on combatting heart disease.
BREAKING
‘Doctor tapped by Trump for key health role reveals plan to end bigger killer than cancer’
‘In addition to his ideas on the food supply, Dr Malhotra also wants to ‘immediately pause or suspend’ the rollout of Covid vaccines due to concerns about their side effects’… pic.twitter.com/murc67JhM8— Dr Aseem Malhotra (@DrAseemMalhotra) November 14, 2024
Speaking with the Daily Mail, he said he wants to ban burgers, pizzas, and other high-calorie foods from schools and hospitals. He also wants to establish a “fat tax” for unhealthy snacks like candy and ice cream.
“There are three simple strategies in public health,” he said. “We talk about the ‘three A’s’ — you target the availability, acceptability, and affordability. When it comes to affordability, you have to tax. That will raise the price and reduce the consumption.”
“This would force the food industry to start developing more minimally processed food and it would simultaneously reduce the purchase of those foods,” he added.
Malhotra, a former U.K. government adviser, wants to introduce some of the same policies here that he claims worked in the U.K., such as a sugar levy placed on sodas way back in 2018.
The levy “saw adults reduce their added sugar intake by about two-and-a-half teaspoons per day” and “led to more than half of all manufacturers reformulating their drinks to be less sugary in order to avoid the charge,” the Daily Mail notes.
“Then in terms of availability, you can look to public smoking bans as [an example of how to tackle junk food],” the doctor said. “Why are we allowing ultra-processed food to be sold in schools and hospitals? Seventy percent of the food in schools is highly processed, it’s unbelievable. What that does, effectively, is legitimizes the acceptability of these foods.”
“I’m not so talking about banning for everyone. People should still be able have treats. I’m not against that. But certain institutions that are supposed to be conducive to people’s health should not be allowed to sell ultra-processed food on their premises,” he added.
Malhotra even supports placing cigarette-style warning labels on processed junk food that’s been linked to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. He also supports banning all advertising for ultra-processed snacks.
“These products have been linked to many diseases, including heart disease, cancer, etc., and therefore should be avoided,” he said. “So I would have warning labels like with tobacco, and I would ban the advertising of ultra-processed food as well.”
Dear @KelloggsUS, I made this nifty warning label you can put on your products to avoid pesky class-action lawsuits in the future. Be honest, don’t make health claims for your junk-food…https://t.co/9YAZjmbrNk#diabetes #diabetesawareness pic.twitter.com/aCNYqvLUM0
— Ken D Berry MD (@KenDBerryMD) July 17, 2021
The major problem with this sort of food is it comprises up to 60 percent of the average American’s daily diet. It’s a similar percentage to how many smokers there were back in the day.
“In the 70s, almost half of American adults were smokers,” Malhotra noted. “Imagine having a conversation back then and trying to imagine a world without smoking. It would have been unthinkable. But it can be done.”
But what makes regulating ultra-processed foods (UPFs) so difficult is a lack of research linking them to cancer and other health conditions. Plus, there’s no definitive definition of what constitutes a UFP.
“UPFs are generally thought to mean any food with five-plus ingredients, but their loose definition means some studies do not differentiate between junk treats like soda and candy and products viewed as healthy such as bread, protein bars, and granola,” the Daily Mail notes.
Regardless, Malhotra believes Trump’s presidency poses the best chance for real change to be achieved.
“If Trump is serious about resolving this pandemic [of chronic disease], this is what needs to happen [now],” he said, adding that it’d take just one term for the problem to be resolved. “I think you would start to see the impact of that on people’s health very quickly.”
“So I absolutely think that if these policies are implemented, within an electoral term of Donald Trump, there’s a very, very high likelihood that you would see meaningful reductions in rates of type two diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure in the population,” he added.
But it’s not entirely clear THIS is what Trump wants. After all, he personally is a giant fan of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Indeed, during the 2024 presidential election, the president-elect’s campaign published videos of him dining on McDonald’s chicken nuggets and soda.
Trump also famously worked at a McDonald’s one afternoon:
Trump to visit Pennsylvania McDonald’s to work: ‘I wanna see how it is’ https://t.co/MTngxm0O9T
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) October 16, 2024
In addition to banning UPFs, Malhotra would also like to “immediately pause or suspend” the rollout of COVID vaccines. Although he originally promoted the vaccine early on, he’s since turned against it because of its links to heart disease in young men.
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