Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a House committee on Wednesday that ultra-processed foods are killing Native Americans.

Kennedy appeared before the House Appropriations Committee to talk about Health and Human Services Department initiatives and the funding he said is needed from Congress.

The New York Post reported a Kennedy comment that, to some, came across as a startling pronouncement. "Ultra-processed food is a genocide on the American Indian."

Kennedy said he intends to change that.

"One of my big priorities will be getting good food, high-quality food, traditional foods onto the reservation, because American Indians, because processed food for American Indians, is poison," he said.

Kennedy offered a stark assessment of living on a reservation.

"I'll say one thing, the Pima Indians were a Blue Zone in Arizona, the longest-living people on the continent," he said. "Today, they're among the shortest-lived. I think their lifespan is around 47 years old."

By contrast, he said, Pima Indians across the border in Mexico don't have access to much ultra-processed food and they, "are still long-lived, have no diabetes, no heart disease, no obesity."

Kennedy's mission with Health and Human Services has been focused on his theme of "Making America Healthy Again," a version of the "Make America Great Again" theme of President Donald Trump.

In a general health post in March, Kennedy commented on bread and cereals sold to all Americans containing pesticides and herbicides, "and are a likely cause of your autoimmune diseases from irritable gut and eczema to asthma and thyroid problems."

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