A handful of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday introduced up considerations about how the Trump administration’s latest actions stand to have an effect on their constituents at a price range listening to with Well being and Human Providers (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Whereas welcoming to Kennedy, a number of GOP members of the Home Appropriations Committee questioned the secretary on how latest strikes by his division and President Trump’s White Home, similar to efforts to discontinue using synthetic meals dye in addition to plans to ban fluoride, would instantly affect their districts.

Tennessee Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R) spoke on behalf of the snack meals producers in his district. The sweet firm Mars Inc. has a producing plant in Fleischmann’s district.

“Candidly, I represent many snack manufacturers,” Fleischmann mentioned. “We want to make sure that FDA has done due diligence to ensure the safety of these replacement colors.”

Final month, the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced plans for meals makers to voluntarily section out a number of petroleum-based meals dyes, citing considerations they’re linked to circumstances like attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction, weight problems, diabetes and most cancers. The company has proposed vegetable-based dyes as replacements.

“I think these dyes are safe. They’ve been approved, but really trying to find substitutes — the costs we’ve seen estimate five to 10 times to try to fix that,” Fleischmann added.

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) sought assurances from Kennedy that the administration would proceed to reverse its firing of greater than 100 Nationwide Institute for Occupational Security and Well being (NIOSH) staff, with many staff having been at a Morgantown facility in Moore’s district.

“This facility and the programs that administers are absolutely critical to West Virginia and to our nation’s coal industry,” Moore mentioned. He additionally sought a assure from Kennedy that the Coal Employees Well being Surveillance Program and the Respirator Approval Program at NIOSH will likely be totally reinstated to which Kennedy responded within the affirmative.

Different lawmakers spoke on behalf of these of their career and the way latest actions at HHS may affect their area.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a longtime working towards dentist, expressed considerations over Kennedy’s goals to get rid of fluoride from consuming water. He famous that on Tuesday, the FDA had introduced plans to ban ingestible fluoride for kids and pushed again on the characterization FDA Commissioner Marty Makary made from the merchandise. Makary mentioned in an announcement that fluoride may kill useful micro organism within the intestine in the identical method that it kills micro organism on tooth.

“You don’t prevent cavities by fluoride killing the bacteria in the mouth. What it does is make the enamel more resistant to decay. So I want to see the studies on this and where we’re headed with this,” Simpson mentioned, warning that if Kennedy succeeds in his goals of banning fluoride, the nation will want “a whole lot more dentists.”