“Means’ departure comes amid his growing frustration with what he saw as a lack of progress on MAHA priorities, according to two administration officials, both granted anonymity to describe his thinking. The breaking point came this week. Means had been scheduled to meet with Kennedy and White House officials to discuss defining ultraprocessed foods, a MAHA priority. That meeting, first reported on by POLITICO, was postponed.
MAHA has prioritized establishing a definition for ultraprocessed foods because they hope it will set the stage for eventual regulation of sweeteners and additives in the American diet.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said one of the two administration officials. “Calley’s been pushing very, very hard for this, but it’s been a very opaque process and has been just continuously stonewalled.””