Donald Trump could be set to launch one of the biggest crackdowns on unhealthy eating in American history.
Despite being the biggest fast food lover to ever be elected president, a doctor tipped to play a key advisory role in the incoming administration claims that won’t stop him attempting to change US diets for the better.
Dr Aseem Malhotra is a British cardiologist who has appeared on podcasts with Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson and has close ties to Robert F Kennedy Junior.
He was a lifelong advocate for vaccines but was cast out by the medical establishment in the UK during Covid for promoting the disputed claim that mRNA shots were killing scores of young people.
Like RFK Jr, who has been promised a ‘big role’ in government by Trump, Dr Malhotra believes the US’ spiraling epidemic of chronic disease can be partly traced to the over-consumption of ultra-processed foods.
He is in talks about a role advising the White House on combating heart disease, which is the biggest killer in the US and is fueled by bad diets and obesity.
In a DailyMail.com interview where he laid out what health policy could look like if he joins team Trump, Dr Malhotra said he would push to treat processed junk food ‘like the new tobacco.’
He wants to ban burgers, pizzas and other high calorie food from schools and hospitals and impose a ‘fat tax’ on the unhealthiest snacks, such as candy and ice cream.
TRUMP’S NEW HEALTH DISRUPTORS: RFK Jr (left) has been promised a ‘big role’ in the new administration and Dr Aseem Malhotra could also be tapped
EYES ON THE FRIES: Trump could launch one of the biggest crackdowns on unhealthy eating in American history – despite being a fast food lover
He said: ‘There are three simple strategies in public health, 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.’
Dr Malhotra, who is a former UK government adviser, wants to introduce in the US some of the policies that worked in Britain.
A sugar levy imposed on sodas in the UK in 2018 saw adults reduce their added sugar intake by about two-and-a-half teaspoons per day.
More importantly, the tax also led to more than half of all manufacturers reformulating their drinks to be less sugary in order to avoid the charge.
Dr Malhotra added: ‘Then in terms of availability, you can look to public smoking bans as [an example of how to tackle junk food.]
‘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.’
Dr Malhotra also supports more radical plans, such as putting cigarette-style warning labels on junk food that warn buyers about possible links to cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and banning all advertisements for ultra-processed snacks.
‘These products have been linked to many diseases, including heart disease, cancer, etc., and therefore should be avoided,’ he added.
‘So I would have warning labels like with tobacco, and I would ban the advertising of ultra-processed food as well.’
CANCELED FIGURES: Malhotra, who was cast out by mainstream medicine during Covid, on Tucker Carlson’s show in 2023 after he was fired by FOX News
While the Trump team has refused to officially comment on Dr Malhotra’s appointment, he is believed to be in consideration for a potential new heart disease czar position.
Also known as cardiovascular disease, it describes a range of conditions that affect the heart, including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and heart failure.
Collectively these killed 680,000 Americans last year, more than the 618,000 lives lost to cancer. Up to 90 percent of heart disease cases are preventable through diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors, like smoking and drinking.
But Dr Malhotra believes the biggest priority is decoupling the American diet from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which make up 60 percent of the average adult’s daily calories.
Drawing parallels with smoking, he said: ‘In the 70s, almost half of American adults were smokers.
‘Imagine having a conversation back then and trying to imagine a world without smoking, it would have been unthinkable.
‘But it can be done.’
Unlike tobacco, however, the links between cancer and other health conditions and junk food is still not definitive.
Federal health advisers have been reviewing how to regulate UPFs amid growing evidence linking them to several diseases and an early death.
Scientific experts tasked with helping craft the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans said the data was too limited to draw firm conclusions.
The difficulty of regulating UPFs is due to the fact they don’t have a recognized definition or large enough body of scientific literature that has studied them.
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.
And Dr Malhotra says 2030 is too late to take action.
‘If Trump is serious about resolving this pandemic [of chronic disease], this is what needs to happen 1731572351.’
Even though it has taken decades to bring smoking rates down (around one in five US adults currently use tobacco), Dr Malhotra claims it would take just one Trump term to reverse decades of rising rates of disease.
Dr Malhotra told DailyMail.com: ‘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.’
JOE ROGAN: Dr Malhotra on the Joe Rogan Experience earlier this year, which was criticized for promoting controversial theories about Covid vaccines
But it is also unclear how keen Trump would be to back the radical plans touted by Dr Malhotra, given his fondness of McDonald’s and Coca Cola.
This past campaign, the president-elect’s team released videos of Trump, 78, eating chicken nuggets and drinking soda days before the election.
He also made fries and served customers at McDonald’s in a hugely viral campaign stunt.
In addition to his radical ideas on the food supply, Dr Malhotra also wants to ‘immediately pause or suspend’ the rollout of Covid vaccines in the US due to concerns about their side effects – despite studies showing the shots prevented countless deaths from Covid.
Dr Malhotra supported the vaccine for high-risk patients in early days of the pandemic, appearing on TV urging people to take the shots.
But he has since linked the vaccines to a spike in excess deaths associated with heart disease in young people, a theory described as ‘extremely fringe.’
Dr Malhotra points out he has promoted vaccines his entire career and believes there is enough ‘uncertainty’ behind excess deaths during Covid to question the mRNA shots.
However, Covid vaccines are another issue Trump – who spearheaded the production of Moderna and Pfizer shots – may be reluctant to probe.
Referring to a segment from Trump’s interview with Joe Rogan, Dr Malhotra said: ‘He [Trump] said that if the drug industry is found to have been putting profits ahead of people, they need to be held accountable and fully investigated.
‘He’s become awakened, because the actual primary duty of these drug industry is to put profits ahead of people.
‘But Trump is saying this is not acceptable. So as far as I’m concerned, I think he’s very much open and willing to change his mind.’
Concerns about vaccine skepticism and conspiracy thinking influencing the White House has some in the science community nervous about a new Trump term.
As part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’, RFK Jr has hinted at demolishing parts of the FDA, stripping fluoride out of water and making some childhood vaccines non-compulsory.
