How ironic. As a dyed-in-the-wool progressive who for decades led the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s campaign for healthier diets, I was disappointed when administration after administration failed to fight for effective policies.

But now in comes anti-regulatory, pro-industry, junk-food-devouring President-elect Donald Trump, who vows to let his nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., “go wild on the food.”

Somehow, amid his unfounded (“nutty” says former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg) concerns about vaccine safety and his cheerleading for raw (and sometimes-contaminated) milk and disproven treatments for COVID-19, Kennedy has decried the prevalence of chronic disease and the “mass-poisoning” of Americans by their food.

Hyperbolic language perhaps, but, in fact, poor diet is responsible for as many as half a million deaths per year.

"Healthy food" shouldn't be a "partisan" issue, Kennedy said, as he promised to:

• Get ultra-processed foods out of school meals;
• Crack down on food dyes, which can trigger ADHD and possibly cancer;
• Bar the use of food stamps for buying sugary drinks.

The following is my short wish list for what Kennedy, if confirmed by the Senate, and others in the Trump administration should focus on if they really want to improve the public’s health in major ways.

For starters, sugary drinks — pure calories — are a major cause of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The administration should demand that Congress tax soda to reduce consumption. Britain’s three-tiered system of taxation led to an almost immediate 44 percent decline in the average sugar content of soft drinks, along with less........

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