Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hails fast-food chain for ‘RFKing’ french fries, urges other companies to be part of MAHA

1. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hails fast-food chain for ‘RFKing’ french fries, urges other companies to be part of MAHA

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hails fast-food chain for ‘RFKing’ french fries, urges other companies to be part of MAHA ByArya Vaishnavi Mar 11, 2025 05:41 PM IST Share Via Copy Link “Steak ‘n Shake just switched out, and people are raving about these French fries,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “grateful” to a fast-food chain that switched from seed oils to 100% beef tallow in its french fries recipe. In an interview with Fox News, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary travelled to a Steak ‘n Shake location in Florida, where he discussed the importance of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. The 71-year-old claimed on Monday that the customers had been “raving” about healthier french fries ever since.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hails fast-food chain for switching to beef tallow from seed oils(REUTERS) RFK Jr. lauds fast-food chain for not using seed oils in their french fries recipe

“Steak ‘n Shake just switched out, and people are raving about these French fries,” Kennedy told host Sean Hannity. After trying out the company's tweaked french fries recipe, he called it a “completely different experience.” The fast-food chain, which is headquartered in Indiana, announced earlier this month that it has started using 100% all-natural beef tallow at all of its locations.

Reiterating his delight over the change, Kennedy said, “Steak ‘n Shake has been great. We're very grateful [to] them for RFK'ing the french fries. They turned me into a verb,” adding that the “customers are raving about it.” While munching on the salty snack and a double cheeseburger, the former independent presidential candidate said that he believes seed oils are one of the major factors behind the chronic disease “epidemic” in the United States.

“Seed oil is one of the components of processed foods, and all the science indicates that ultra-processed foods are the principal culprit in this extraordinary explosion – the epidemic we have of chronic disease,” Kennedy explained. “I have a libertarian outlook,” he went on, adding, “People should be able to make their own choices - if you want to eat a doughnut or seed oils, you should be able to.”

The Kennedy scion emphasised the need for the people to be able to “exercise informed choice.” “You should know what that product is, what’s in your food and what the health impacts are. That’s all we’re going to do,” he continued to say before calling on other companies to join the MAHA initiative and the president's focus on “radical transparency.”

“President Trump wants us to have radical transparency and to incentivize companies like [Steak ‘n Shake] to switch to traditional ingredients, like beef tallow,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to inform Americans about what’s been making them sick. We want to do everything that we can to incentivize these companies to be transparent, to switch over from ultra-processed food, and to be part of this movement to make America healthier,” he added.