Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to a Steak ‘n Shake in Florida over the weekend with Fox News host Sean Hannity, days after the company announced it would be cooking its iconic shoestring fries in beef tallow.
“Steak ‘n Shake has been great. We’re very grateful [to] them for RFK’ing the french fries. They turned me into a verb,” he said Monday on “Hannity.”
In a March 1 post on X, the company said it had officially started cooking with 100% all-natural beef tallow at all of its locations.
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The nearly century-old joint touts itself as the only burger chain in the United States to switch from vegetable oil to beef tallow, a rendered fat.
“The consumer wants the best and deserves the best. By adopting 100% beef tallow, Steak ‘n Shake is delivering the best fries possible,” said Kristen Briede, the chief global development officer for the company, in a statement.
RFK Jr. has touted beef tallow as a healthier alternative to seed oils, which is often one of the main components of processed foods.
“We want to do everything that we can to incentivize these companies to be transparent, to switch over from ultra-processed food, and to be part of this movement to make America healthier,” the former Independent presidential candidate said.
“We are poisoning ourselves and it’s coming from, you know, principally, these ultra-processed foods.”
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He added that the Trump administration is committed to “radical” transparency and wants to incentivize other companies to make the switch to more traditional and natural ingredients.
RFK Jr. met with the CEOs of big name food companies like General Mills, WK Kellogg Co., Kraft Heinz and The J.M. Smucker Co. Monday to address ways to advance food safety and consumer trust.
“People should be able to make their own choices. If you want to eat a donut or seed oils, you should be able to. You should be able to exercise informed choice. You should know what that product is, what’s in your food, and what the health impacts are. That’s all we’re going to do,” he said on “Hannity.”
The HHS secretary also stressed the need to get the obesity epidemic in the United States under control so people can live longer and healthier lives.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 40% of the U.S. adult population is obese.
RFK Jr. said studies from Stanford and Harvard show how mental illness, including anxiety and depression, can be related to food.
“Food is medicine. By changing your diet, you can lose some of those diagnoses,” he suggested.
“This generation of our kids is the first generation in 200 years that is going to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. We are, you know, we are letting down these kids and there is a moral issue here. And we need to start grappling with it because it’s a moral issue. It’s a financial issue. Healthcare costs are going to sink us and the only way that we’re going to solve it is by changing what we eat.”