Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz and two other House Republicans in a news conference Monday. The event praised a string of bills the state passed that align with Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again commission.

“What an honor and what an incredible opportunity for the state of Utah,” Schultz said. “Utah is leading the way in making America healthy again, because while other states are just talking about the solutions, Utah’s actually implementing and creating the solutions.”

Environmental Protection Agency Head Lee Zeldin also took the stage at the conference, which took place in the University of Utah’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. He said it was an honor to be a part of the health secretary’s “MAHA” commission.

“As soon as I was nominated by President Trump as the minister of the EPA, the secretary instantly reached out to start talking about issues that he is so passionate about and number one on that list was fluoride,” Zeldin said.

Utah became the first state in the nation to ban adding fluoride in drinking water this winter. Kennedy said he was “very proud” of Utah for being the first state to ban it. He said he hopes many more will come.

The law also allows pharmacists to prescribe fluoride supplements. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, told reporters this makes it so the law prioritizes personal choice and expands medical freedom in Utah.

“Every individual and family will have the freedom to choose for themselves whether to consume supplemental fluoride, rather than having it be automatically included in our public drinking water,” she said.

The two counties with fluoridated water, Salt Lake and Davis County, have until May 7 to remove the cavity-fighting mineral from their water supplies.

Almost every public health, medical and dental organization recommends adding fluoride in community water to prevent cavities and tooth decay. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called drinking water fluoridation one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. 

But Kennedy said, “It makes no sense to put fluoride in our water.” He said “the evidence against it is overwhelming,” later adding that it lowers children’s IQ and pointing to a toxicology report from last year.

Last August, the National Institute of Health’s toxicology program released a report that found a link between fluoride and lower IQ in children. However, the association was at fluoride levels more than two times higher than the U.S. Public Health Service recommends, and none of the studies occurred in the United States.

Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, also attended the conference to laud two bills she sponsored this legislative session: a law prohibiting soft drinks from being purchased with food stamps and a bill banning seven food dyes and some additives in public schools. 

One of the food colorings Utah banned in school lunches was Red Dye No. 3. The dye was officially banned by the Food and Drug Administration in January over a potential cancer risk. The agency gave food manufacturers until January 2027 to remove the red dye from their products.

g.radtke@dailyutahchronicle.com
@GiovanniRadtke