Banning Neon Cupcakes While Ignoring Real Public Health Threats: Welcome to America 2025

Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

Welcome to the theater of absurdity.

While the federal government waves the flag of victory over removing petroleum-based food dyes from snacks, it is simultaneously gutting critical public health programs like food inspection, bird flu monitoring, injury prevention initiatives, and scientific research grants. The result? A dazzling case study in misplaced priorities.

Today, let's walk through what is actually happening — not the headline-friendly soundbites — and why Americans should be far more worried about E. coli in their milk than Red Dye #3 in their Skittles.

The Food Dye Fear Mongering: What's Actually True?

First, let's address the food dye hysteria head-on. Many news outlets, "wellness influencers," and natural health bloggers are breathlessly claiming that we are "eating petroleum" because some food dyes are synthesized from hydrocarbon molecules derived initially from crude oil.

Here’s the scientific truth: petroleum-derived hydrocarbons are nothing more than basic building blocks of carbon and hydrogen — the same stuff that makes up olive oil, avocado oil, and the omega-3 fatty acids you proudly add to your smoothies. [1]

Importantly, food dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5 are purified and rigorously tested substances. They are chemically synthesized from hydrocarbons, not "extracted gasoline." Saying Red 40 is gasoline is like saying salt is explosive because it contains sodium. It's chemophobic nonsense.

Meanwhile, many of the same people yelling about food dyes are promoting supplements like methylene blue — another petroleum-derived chemical. Cognitive dissonance, much?

Reference:

1. ImmunoLogic. (2025). "No, You're Not Eating Gasoline." Retrieved from https://news.immunologic.org

Meanwhile, in the Real World: Food Safety Programs Are Being Gutted

Now, while we're distracted by the horror of neon cupcakes, something far more dangerous is happening. Funding for critical public health initiatives is being slashed:

• Food inspection programs are being downgraded and shifted from federal oversight to inconsistent state programs.
• Bird flu monitoring — crucial in an era of rising zoonotic diseases — is being slashed.
• Injury prevention programs — those that track traumatic brain injury, car crashes, drownings, and falls — are being dismantled.

According to reporting from Food Safety News, the Trump Administration's proposed budget would cut $128 million from the FDA’s food safety programs alone — programs that help prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness like the 2018 E. coli outbreak tied to romaine lettuce. [2]

Reference: 2. Food Safety News. (2025). "FDA food safety funding faces big cuts." Retrieved from https://www.foodsafetynews.com

Leadership Matters: Enter RFK Jr.

You might ask, "Who’s steering this ship into the iceberg?" None other than Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of Health and Human Services.

There’s a small problem: RFK Jr. never took a single science course during his undergraduate education — at least, none we can find. Yet he is now in charge of overseeing agencies that depend on scientific literacy, from the CDC to the FDA.

No wonder policy is being dictated by what makes Instagram wellness bloggers like "Food Babe" happy. Forget investing in scientific infrastructure to actually prevent disease. Apparently, public health is now about making sure your lettuce won't "run away with your colon."

And the Hypocrisy Continues: Milk and Metabolic Disease

While politicians play "Whac-a-Mole" with food dyes, real nutritional science continues to quietly reveal important risks — like the health consequences of dietary fat.

A recent study in BMC Gastroenterology found that frequent consumption of full-fat milk is associated with a higher risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). [3]

Surprisingly, this association was especially strong among people with higher education levels. So yes, your $7 artisanal organic whole-milk latte might be sneaking you toward fatty liver — one creamy sip at a time.

Yet without adequate public health research funding, follow-up studies that could clarify mechanisms, confounders, and long-term risk could evaporate. The death of science isn't just about laboratories; it's about the slow, steady starvation of research that actually improves human health.

Reference: 3. BMC Gastroenterology. (2025). "Non-skimmed milk and MAFLD." Retrieved from https://bmcgastroenterology.biomedcentral.com

Transitional Moment: So, What Are We Prioritizing?

Instead of investing in:

• Safer food systems
• More robust disease tracking
• Cutting-edge nutritional science

We are prioritizing:

• Removing artificial colors that haven't been linked to deaths
• Slashing foodborne illness monitoring
• Hiring a non-scientist to oversee our nation's health apparatus

This is a classic case of "health theater"— grand, performative actions with little substance while real threats simmer under the surface.

Why Should You Care?

Because someday, when the next E. coli outbreak rips across 15 states, you might wish someone had prioritized pathogen monitoring instead of neon cupcakes.

Because someday, when another zoonotic virus jumps from animals to humans, you might wish someone had protected our bird flu surveillance systems.

Because someday, when your "healthy" full-fat latte quietly leads you toward metabolic disease, you might wish public health research had been better funded.

This isn’t hypothetical. It’s happening. Right now.

Closing Thoughts: Welcome to America 2025

In the final analysis, food dyes aren’t the enemy. Ignorance is.

Real public health work is boring. It involves spreadsheets, bacterial cultures, inspections, and endless grant applications. It doesn't make splashy headlines or Instagram-worthy memes.

But it saves lives. Quietly. Consistently. Effectively.

Today, we’re watching that entire system be sacrificed on the altar of viral outrage.

So the next time you eat a slightly less vibrant Froot Loop, take a moment to appreciate the irony: you might survive the Red Dye #3... but good luck surviving the E. coli smoothie no one inspected.

Stay skeptical. Stay curious. Fork responsibly.