RFK JR. EFFECT: PepsiCo Makes the MAHA Switch!

In another win for the health of the American people, PepsiCo — who owns chip brands Lay’s and Tostitos — just announced that will be removing all artificial colors and flavors from their products by the end of this year.

They will also start using avocado and olive oil — which is much healthier — more instead of canola or soybean oil.

Secretary Kennedy announced on X:

.@PepsiCo just announced it will eliminate artificial colors and flavors from Lay’s and Tostitos by year’s end—and expand the use of avocado and olive oil in place of canola and soybean oil. I urge every other food company to follow their lead and join the movement to Make… pic.twitter.com/5IExJPu7co

— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) July 19, 2025

This is great news.

MAHA is something every American can get behind — regardless of politics, and it’s nice to see companies responding to that.

Reuters has more details on the changes PepsiCo is making:

“We’re trying to elevate the real food perception of Lay’s. If you think about the simplest and most natural snack, it is a potato chip; it’s a potato, it’s oil, and it’s a little bit of salt—the most simple, no artificial ingredients,” said CEO Ramon Laguarta in a call with investors.

The company also said it was expanding use of avocado and olive oil across its brands, rather than the canola or soybean oil it uses. The MAHA movement has questioned the health benefits of certain food oils.

In April, PepsiCo said it planned to migrate its entire portfolio to natural colors, or give consumers the option to have a product without a synthetic dye. Its Cheetos snacks and Gatorade drinks rely on synthetic dyes for their bright hues.

PepsiCo’s top executive also hinted that they may follow in Coca-Cola’s footsteps and switch to pure cane sugar from high fructose corn syrup.

BREAKING: PepsiCo’s top executive indicated that the company may switch Pepsi’s sweetener from high-fructose corn syrup to sugar, one day after President Trump claimed that Coca-Cola would be. pic.twitter.com/oOtSz17Rld

— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) July 19, 2025

The switch to cane sugar isn’t confirmed yet, but the PepsiCo CEO says that if consumers want it, they will get it!

Newsweek reported:

Pepsi is promising to deliver want customers want – with or without high fructose corn syrup.

PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta told investors the beverage giant plans to follow the tastebuds of customers during a fortuitously timed earnings call Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump said the company’s rival, Coca-Cola, agreed to switch using to cane sugar in Coke manufactured in the United States.

“Listen, same journey that we have in foods, we’re following in beverages,” Laguarta said on the call when asked about Trump’s comments. “This is a consumer-centric strategy. We’re following the consumer. If the consumer is telling us that they prefer products that have sugar and they prefer products that have natural ingredients, we will give the consumer products that have sugar and have natural ingredients.”

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PepsiCo aims to aims to follow the public’s lead, trying to be a “little bit maybe one step ahead of the consumer, but not too many steps,” said Laguarta, who has led the food and beverage company since 2018.

“And it applies to both beverages and food,” he continued. “In particular, we have a journey to – and a technical roadmap – to eliminate artificial colors and artificial flavors from our beverages the same as we do for our food business, and we’ll be able to execute as the regulations evolve, or consumer preference evolve.”

The only people I can think of who don’t want Pepsi to use real cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup are corn lobbyist…

And, that should tell you everything you need to know.

Your thoughts?