“The Make America Healthy Again movement that propelled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become Health and Human Services secretary will remain powerful because Republicans believe MAHA voters gave President Trump a margin of victory and they want MAHA votes in the 2026 midterm elections, Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of The Sugar Association, said here today.
During a panel discussion on nutrition issues including GLP-1 anti-obesity drugs, Gaine said that the MAHA movement is “not new, it’s been around for years,” pulling together people who want “real, simple food, a clean label even if it doesn’t taste good.”
MAHA was looking for a leader and it found one in Kennedy, Gaine said. Kennedy has limited power to enact MAHA’s views against sugary drinks, glyphosate, ultraprocessed foods and favoritism toward raw milk, but every time he speaks “there is a new playground for litigation,” Gaine said.”
Read the full article here: https://www.thefencepost.com/news/gaine-maha-remains-powerful-because-republicans-want-votes/
February 25, 2026
Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, which represents the industry on scientific matters, said at the International Sweetener Colloquium. “It is really easy to regulate sugar. You can get easy wins for sugar,” Gaine said as she others discussed the impact of the MAHA movement. “The narrative is: The government and food […]
February 20, 2026
Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, a scientific body which supports the U.S. sugar industry, told the USDA Outlook Forum that the school meal standards taking effect next year might prohibit added sugars in kindergarten meals and significantly restrict them in other grades. That change alone would cut sugar demand by over […]
January 10, 2026
The health secretary’s new dietary guidelines tell parents to cut the added sugar until their kids turn 11. “Misleading rhetoric “declaring war” on and creating unsubstantiated fear about a real ingredient like real sugar will not improve children’s health,” said Courtney Gaine, the association’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Real sugar — which comes […]
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