David A. Kessler MD

Prof @UCSFPediatrics @UCSF_Epibiostat. My "formers" - Chief Science Officer, Covid Response @HHSGov @POTUS; Commissioner @US_FDA; Dean @YaleMed & @UCSFMedicine

[STAT @statnews]

Former Commissioner, David Kessler shares reflections on the state of the FDA and outlines a path forward.
#STATBreakthrough

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | New England Journal of Medicine https://t.co/8UY1bYrl1s

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

Tell the FDA: Approve Kessler Petition, Rescind GRAS Status for Refined Carbohydrates https://t.co/hIX6R5NhBW

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

How America Got Hooked on Ultraprocessed Foods https://t.co/W3NbNCqZoF via @NYTimes

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

The Biology of Weight: Insights from GLP-1 Drugs and Hunter-Gatherers | The People's Pharmacy https://t.co/UQVE71l0LW

[Mark Hyman, M.D. @drmarkhyman]

@DavidAKesslerMD was FDA Commissioner under Bush and Clinton. He's the reason tobacco companies lost.

Now he's filed a petition that could pull ultra-processed food off shelves within months.

The legal argument is so simple it's shocking no one has done it before.

[UICMedicine Rockford @UICOMRockford]

David A. Kessler, MD, JD, celebrated physician, lawyer, former FDA commissioner and author, led a lecture at UICOMR on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. His visit was designed to increase knowledge about public health advocacy and its impact on the health care needs of the population.

[Consumer Federation of America @ConsumerFed]

New CFA #Webinar : Join former @US_FDA Commissioner David Kessler and former #FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael Taylor as they discuss their experience with #GRAS & Ultra-Processed Foods #UPF

Register Here: https://t.co/3Fq1S0nE9n

[Metabolic Mind @Metabolic_Mind]

Are processed foods about to go the way of Big Tobacco?

In the 1990s, Dr. David Kessler, then FDA Commissioner, took on the Tobacco industry, reshaping how America viewed cigarettes forever.

Now, decades later, he’s set his sights on another target: the addictive refined sugars and starches at the core of ultra-processed foods.

Kessler has filed a citizen’s petition urging the FDA to strip these ingredients of their “Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)” status.

How did these highly addictive and metabolically disruptive ingredients slip through in the first place? Shockingly, a 2022 study found that nearly 99% of food additives were never vetted by the FDA at all—they were rubber-stamped by the food industry itself. (Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse).

With obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and mental health conditions climbing, the question now is whether ultra-processed foods will finally face the kind of reckoning tobacco once did—or whether politics and industry will keep the status quo alive. We’ll be keeping a close watch as this story unfolds.

Expert Featured:
Dr. Bret Scher, MD, Baszucki Group Medical Director
@bschermd

Resources Mentioned:
6-Clear Signs You Might Have Food Addiction w/ Drs. Jen Unwin & Georgia Ede
- https://t.co/Otf8bLp9RT

Visceral Fat and the Chronic Health Epidemic w/ Dr. David Kessler
- https://t.co/cCvSfmDUx2

Petition: Requests that the FDA Limit the Exposure of Refined Carbohydrates used in Industrial Processing in order to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease in Children and Adults
- https://t.co/YzClBOmuEH

Follow our channel for more information and education from Bret Scher, MD, FACC, including interviews with leading experts in Metabolic Psychiatry.

Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at https://t.co/o8ByM0LCAS

About us:
Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.

Our channel is for informational purposes only. We are not providing individual or group medical or healthcare advice nor establishing a provider-patient relationship. Many of the interventions we discuss can have dramatic or potentially dangerous effects if done without proper supervision. Consult your healthcare provider before changing your lifestyle or medications.

[Mike Pesca @pescami]

Today on The Gist, former FDA Commissioner David Kessler (@DavidAKesslerMD) says ultra-processed foods act more like narcotics than nourishment.

He joins to discuss his new book Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine—plus why “toxic fat” could be the new tobacco.

🎧 Listen here: https://t.co/QaPj5hjDMZ

[Kevin Hall @KevinH_PhD]

Great interview with former FDA Commissioner David Kessler on his petition to remove various processed carbohydrates common in ultra-processed foods from the list of ingredients generally recognized as safe (GRAS). https://t.co/V4lAm4RBmG

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

@gourmetmetrics Make that “wheat.”

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

A copy of the petition can be found here (https://t.co/ULoucalev5). The letter to Secretary Kennedy is here (https://t.co/7UNbA3Bzl6). https://t.co/nqQt7VxN4s

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

@gourmetmetrics Milled refined what flour is not included.

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

A former FDA chief’s ‘brilliant’ move to test the agency’s commitment to making America healthy - KTVZ https://t.co/e8oXfhpcdT

[Mark Hyman, M.D. @drmarkhyman]

My friend @DavidAKesslerMD just submitted a groundbreaking petition to the FDA that could transform American health.

The same doctor who took down Big Tobacco in the 90s is now taking on Big Food - and this could change everything... 👇

[Food Fix @foodfixco]

FoodFix bonus edition: David Kessler, who served as FDA commissioner during the H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations, once took on Big Tobacco. Now he’s taking on Big Food.

https://t.co/84STPjxhbq

[David A. Kessler MD @DavidAKesslerMD]

Former F.D.A. Chief Backs RFK Jr.’s War on Ultraprocessed Food - The New York Times https://t.co/nqQt7VxN4s

[Nina Teicholz, PhD @bigfatsurprise]

🚨Former FDA Comissioner David Kessler has petitioned the FDA to ban refined carbohydrates: sugars and refined starches. These are the real problem with ultra-processed foods, he says👍👍
"The removal of processed refined carbohydrates will prove transformative in protecting the public...They must be removed from commerce."
Is this the radical step we need to fix our food? It would 💯 improve health.

[Metabolic Mind @Metabolic_Mind]

Visceral fat, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysfunction are driving the chronic disease epidemic—and yet, they're still misunderstood. In this compelling conversation, former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler, MD, explains why he believes visceral adiposity is the greatest public health failure of our lifetime.

Dr. Kessler brings decades of experience (as a pediatrician, legal expert, policy leader, and author of “The End of Overeating” and “Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine”) to explore how ultra-formulated foods impact our biology, why GLP-1 drugs are only a short-term tool, and how we’ve misunderstood addiction when it comes to food. He also opens up about his own struggles with weight gain and metabolic health, despite having all the professional knowledge and discipline in the world.

This interview covers:

- The link between processed food, dopamine, and metabolic disease
- Why insulin—not just glucose—should be front and center
- The role of ketogenic and lower-carb diets for people with visceral fat or food addiction
- What went wrong with the dietary guidelines
- And what it will take to reverse course and reclaim our health

If you're a clinician, researcher, or someone navigating your own metabolic journey, this conversation is compelling viewing. Dr. Kessler doesn’t offer easy answers, but he does help clarify where the real problem lies and how we might begin to fix it.

Expert Featured:
Dr. David Kessler, FACHE

Resources Mentioned:
https://t.co/0ywkqJcJuW

Follow our channel for more information and education from Bret Scher, MD, FACC, including interviews with leading experts in Metabolic Psychiatry.

Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at https://t.co/o8ByM0LCAS

Timestamps:
0:00 - Meet Dr. David Kessler, MD
1:37 - David Kessler's personal journey with weight gain
4:24 - Why aren't our health institutions able to help people maintain healthy weight?
8:16 - The role of Food Addiction in our health journeys
11:53 - Dr. Kessler's Wall Street Journal op-ed
17:10 - Are diets "one size fits all"? Or should diets be individualized?
32:26 - Is there a way to have a low-carb diet recommended on a large scale from an institutional or national level?
34:30 - Learn more about Dr. Kessler