Axios-Ipsos poll: Americans embracing food regulation
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Kennedy with NIH director Jay Bhattacharya (left) and FDA commissioner Marty Makary (right) at an April event announcing the FDA's intent to phase out the use of synthetic dyes in the food supply. Photo: Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images
Americans broadly support some of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s food regulation agenda — from removing artificial dyes to increasing safety and labeling — though they distrust Kennedy 2-to-1, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
The big picture: 87% of respondents said the government should do more to make food safe through guidelines, labeling or reduced pesticide exposure.
- Six in 10 want to remove artificial dyes from foods — some entirely and some as long as it doesn't significantly impact food costs and looks. Seven in 10 want to strengthen food safety inspections.
Why it matters: These ideas are drawing support largely across partisan lines, despite politicization and many consumers' tendencies to act counter to their stated interests.
- Just 31% of Americans say they trust health information from Kennedy.
- Just 23% say they regularly eat organic fruits or vegetables.
- Half said they've eaten fast food or processed food at least a few days in the past week.
What they're saying: "When you strip away all of the politically charged rhetoric… there is a lot of alignment," said Mallory Newall, Ipsos vice president for U.S. public affairs.
- "But framing and language matter," Newall said. "In theory, there is agreement that our food guidelines need to be updated and made safer for us. But there's a certain level of distrust across the board on how the government actually is going about this. And I do think it's being politicized."
By the numbers: 47% of Republican respondents said they favor removing all artificial dyes from foods, even if it makes foods cost more — compared with 42% of independents and 26% of Democrats.
- 23% of Republicans, 18% of independents and 28% of Democrats favored removing some artificial dyes but wanted to minimize changes to food costs and appearances. Others favored food labeling that lets consumers decide, or said they didn't know or wanted no change.
- 48% respondents overall think U.S. health policies should focus primarily on healthy foods and lifestyles and disease prevention while 27% say they should primarily be around research to develop new drugs and treatments. That compared to 41% and 38%, respectively, when we asked the question at the beginning of March.
- And 7 in 10 Americans strongly or somewhat agree with the statement American children are on too many prescription drugs.
Respondents were almost evenly split on whether COVID-19 booster vaccines are safe for pregnant women. But a majority (54%) said they don't trust the current COVID-19 vaccine recommendations set by the federal government, which exclude healthy pregnant women.
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted June 13-16, 2025, by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,104 general population adults age 18 or older.
- The margin of sampling error is +/-3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.
