[At] best, the changes championed by the MAHA movement will likely yield marginal health improvements, Alyssa J. Moran, a director at the University of Pennsylvania’s food-policy laboratory, told me. Research has long shown that the most harmful elements of junk food are high levels of salt, saturated fat, and sugar, combined with minimal fiber and nutrients—not fructose, seed oils, or trace amounts of additives.
One study that Moran co-authored found that parents are more likely to give their kids sugary drinks labeled with images of fresh fruit than similar products without those images. People tend to falsely believe that Oreos labeled “organic” have fewer calories than their conventional counterparts, and that the cookies can be eaten more frequently, even if they are pointed to labels showing that both options are nutritionally identical. They are also more likely to forgo exercise if they choose an organic dessert over a conventional one.
“There has to be a threat of mandatory policy,” Moran said. “Otherwise, we’re just going to continue to see them making these changes around the margins that are very unlikely to meaningfully impact health.”