The FDA Boss on the Agency’s MAHA Makeover

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Marty Makary has criticized the Food and Drug Administration for being "captured" by Big Food and Big Pharma. Now, the surgeon and former professor is in charge. In an interview with host Jessica Mendoza, the new FDA head talks about food dyes, AI, vaccines and the big changes he has in store for an agency that regulates one-fifth of consumer spending. Further Listening: Why Coke Isn't Getting Rid of High-Fructose Corn Syrup MAHA Influencers Go to Washington Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Last week, I sat down with one of the most powerful figures in American health care.
0:10.8	Yeah, let's be honest. The FDA has had periods where it's been captured by the industry it's supposed to regulate.
0:15.6	Dr. Marty McCarrie is just four months into the job as the head of the Food and Drug Administration,
0:20.7	an agency that regulates one-fifth of all consumer spending.
0:24.8	And already, McCarrie is shaking up the agency.
0:28.0	We are rewriting the food pyramid.
0:29.6	The food guidance has been misinformation.
0:32.1	He wants to ban artificial food dyes, cut down drug approval times,
0:36.0	and use AI to speed up the work of scientists.
0:40.3	McCarrie is hoping to reshape the FDA in the name of the Maha movement, Make America
0:46.3	Healthy Again. And Maha has been highly critical of big food and big pharma, blaming those
0:51.3	industries for the ill health of the country.
0:59.1	I wanted to know how McCarrie was balancing when to work with these big corporate entities and when to push back.
1:04.3	Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.
1:08.7	I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, August 5th.
1:12.5	Coming up on the show, an interview with FDA Commissioner Marty McCarrie.
1:26.6	This episode is brought to you by SimplySafe.
1:30.7	And this...
1:31.8	SimplySafe on.
1:33.0	...is the sound of peace of mind.
1:36.1	SimpliSafe sensors, HD cameras and 24-7 security monitoring protect your home inside and out,
1:47.5	against break-ins, fires, water leaks and more.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.