FDA Head Marty Makary on Food Dyes, Ultra-Processed Foods and the MAHA Agenda

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

Government, Politics, News

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 July 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary is getting lobbied by the MAHA movement to restrict food dyes and ultra-processed foods, as well as by the food, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries to reduce government oversight. “We want to go bold and there are a lot of things to do,” Makary tells POLITICO’s Dasha Burns. “But we also want to find common ground and work incrementally.” At the same time, he says, “The amount of pressure I feel from industry or other branches of government is zero.” Makary also discusses how the agency is addressing women’s health and access to mifepristone, what he calls a “child vaping epidemic,” and explains the rationale behind FDA staffing cuts as well as some controversial hires. Plus, White House reporter Jake Traylor joins Burns to discuss the mood inside the White House amid the fallout over the Jeffrey Epstein story, why President Trump is “itching” to get back on the campaign trail ahead of the 2026 midterms and whether GOP candidates in swing districts will welcome him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter.
0:05.5	You're the expert because you know what fits your life.
0:09.4	And getting it right starts with good information.
0:12.5	That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at goodto-know facts.org.
0:19.5	No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for
0:23.9	more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit good to know facts.org.
0:33.3	Hello, hello, and welcome to the conversation.
0:39.7	Every week on this show, I invite one of the most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in Washington and beyond to talk about how they're navigating and shaping this incredible era in American politics.
0:53.1	But first, let's talk about this week.
0:55.2	And we can't talk about this week without talking about Jeffrey Epstein.
0:58.7	It's the conversation in the White House to the chagrin of President Trump.
1:02.1	He is incredibly frustrated, furious, as one source told me this week,
1:05.7	because it feels like he's making trade deals.
1:07.8	He's getting his agenda passed through Congress.
1:09.6	But every time he turns on that TV, all he sees is Jeffrey Epstein headlines and he is sick of it. It's also plaguing Congress.
1:17.2	Like, school is out for summer early. How Speaker Mike Johnson ended this session early so that he could
1:22.4	avoid Democrats calling for a vote on the Epstein case. So this is infiltrated basically every part of Washington
1:28.8	at this point. But there are some other really important things going on, including a big
1:33.5	conversation about our nation's health. You've heard about the MAHA movement. Some of you may feel
1:39.5	part of the Make America Healthy Again tribe. Well, this week I sat down with FDA Commissioner Marty McCarrey.
1:46.9	You know, the FDA is part of this group of the nation's health officials
1:50.5	working on a report that is due to the president in August,
	...

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