Ilena Peng and Will Kubzansky

Wed, May 21, 2025, 11:11 AM4 min read

(Bloomberg) — Sugar producers thought they had escaped Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Can Frank Gehry’s ‘Grand LA’ Make Downtown Feel Like a Neighborhood?

• Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Seeks Up to $4.3 Billion of Muni Debt

• NJ Transit Makes Deal With Engineers, Ending Three-Day Strike

After all, the health secretary had spent much of his time fighting things like pesticides, seed oils and colorings. If anything, his criticism of high-fructose corn syrup could have benefited sugar consumption.

But Kennedy has now added sugar to his list of targets, calling it “poison” in late April. His comment was a talking point for the sugar industry when traders met last week for an annual dinner in New York and candy makers gathered in Indianapolis for the Sweets & Snacks Expo.

“We’ve got sugar being chastised again,” Jose Orive, executive director of the International Sugar Organization, said in his speech at the Sugar Club’s 75th dinner. “We’ve got politicians calling it poison. We’ve got all kinds of attacks coming every which way, based on totally groundless claims about what our product represents.”

Kennedy is preparing to release his first MAHA commission report on Thursday. The sugar industry will no doubt be watching. Demand is already under pressure due to inflation and the spread of weight-loss drugs. Companies including Oreo maker Mondelez International Inc. have already said consumers are pulling back on snacking to prioritize grocery necessities.

“The secretary’s comments reflect the growing body of evidence linking excessive added sugar consumption to serious health risks, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and tooth decay,” a spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department said. Kennedy is encouraging states to align nutrition programs with evidence-based dietary guidelines, the spokesperson added.

Until now, the sugar industry had been somewhat spared from a huge decline in consumption of caloric sweeteners. While annual per capita consumption in 2023 was 21% lower than in 1999, the decline was driven by corn syrup, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Sugar consumption per capita actually grew about 1% in the period.

That could all change. Consumers associate sugar with obesity, with a survey by the International Food Information Council finding that “fresh” is the most common criteria used to define a “healthy” food, followed by “good source of protein” and “low in sugar.” About two-thirds of respondents say they actively limit their sugar consumption.