If you work in food and beverage right now, you don’t need another explainer on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. You’re living it.

A year or two ago, you might have called it fringe. Today, it’s shaping regulations, rattling supply chains, and driving what ends up in shoppers’ carts. Consumers are reading labels more closely than ever. Politicians on both the left and right are suddenly food reformers. And the Secretary of Health and Human Services has made “removing artificial additives” a centerpiece of federal policy.

Here’s the twist: this isn’t just about what’s in your products. It’s about how you talk about what’s in your products.

Because right now, one word on a package or in a CEO quote can mean a lawsuit, a boycott… or a breakthrough.

The decision you can’t avoid

If you strip away all the noise, most food and beverage companies are facing a deceptively simple fork in the road:

You might wish this were a purely R&D decision. It isn’t. It’s also a language decision.

The mistake we see companies make is treating this as a science question that can be answered with data alone. “The science says this additive is safe.” “Regulators have approved this ingredient for decades.”

That’s not how people are experiencing this moment.

MAHA has reframed food from a lifestyle choice to a survival issue. Ten years ago, buying organic or natural was a kind of luxury identity: “I’m mindful. I’m part of a certain tribe.”

Today, the identity is different: “I’m a protector. I’m defending myself and my family from companies that put profits over our health.”

You can’t argue someone out of that identity with a white paper.

You need a different approach.

The triangle: Taste, affordability, health

There’s a simple mental model that can help you decide what to do and how to talk about it. Almost every product decision in this space is a tradeoff between three things:

MAHA is turning the health dial way up. But that doesn’t mean taste and affordability suddenly don’t matter. In research, people say they want healthier products. At the shelf, taste still wins most of the time. And in this economy, affordability is never far behind.

If you treat MAHA as a mandate to maximize health at any cost, you risk breaking the other two corners of the triangle. If your reformulated product tastes worse, or costs significantly more, your customers will let you know, loudly.

The right language helps you acknowledge the tradeoffs honestly and frame your choices in a way that earns trust instead of backlash.

Path 1: If you reformulate, don’t just change the product—change the story

Let’s say you decide to reformulate. Or you’re forced to by regulation. Or you see a clear commercial opportunity in offering a “cleaner” line.

Most companies announce the change as if it’s a simple upgrade: “New recipe—now with no artificial colors!”

Then they’re surprised when people ask:

• Wait, were you doing something bad before?
• Will it taste the same?
• Is it going to cost more?
• Are you caving to political pressure?

Those questions are not a sign your messaging is failing. They’re the questions any smart consumer would ask in this environment. The mistake is not anticipating them.

At a minimum, your reformulation story needs to clearly answer three things:

1. Intent: Why are you doing this now?
If you don’t answer this, people will fill in the blank—and assume the worst. Be explicit. For example:

• “We heard from you that fewer artificial colors matters. We’ve been working on this for three years to get it right.”
• “New regulations accelerated what we were already doing behind the scenes.”

2. Impact: What does it mean for taste and price?
Don’t let people wonder. Address it head-on:

• “Same taste you love, with simpler ingredients.”
• “We found a way to make this change without raising the price.” Or, if you can’t: “Here’s why it costs a little more—and why we think it’s worth it.”

3. Identity: What does this say about me if I buy it?
In the MAHA era, buying a product isn’t just a transaction. It’s a statement. Help people feel like protectors, not guinea pigs:

• “A choice you can feel better about—for you and your family.”
• “Real ingredients, made for real life, not a perfect life.”

Above all, remember: reformulation is a journey, not a flip of a switch. You probably can’t change everything at once. You don’t have to pretend you can.

It’s okay to say: “We’re on a journey to healthier. This change is the next step, not the last one.” If you show visible progress each year, you buy yourself time and credibility.

Path 2: If you don’t reformulate, you still can’t be silent

Now let’s take the harder path. You look at the science and believe your ingredient is safe. You’ve tried every alternative and can’t find one that meets your standards on taste or shelf life or cost. Or you decide your role in people’s lives is as an occasional indulgence, not an everyday staple.

You still have to talk about it.

What doesn’t work in this situation: lecturing people about science or mocking their concerns. In the current climate, “Relax, it’s safe” is a losing argument.

What can work:

1. Own what you are.
Some products have been part of people’s lives for decades. They’re not meant to be your whole diet. They’re the birthday cake, the road trip snack, the Friday night treat. You can lean into that:

• “We’re not trying to be a salad. We’re here for your special moments. Enjoy us as a treat.”
  This is about recategorizing the product in people’s minds: from “everyday staple that should meet my highest health bar” to “occasional indulgence I can feel okay about.”

2. Protect choice.
There is still a strong current in America around the right to choose: what to eat, what to buy, how to live. You can acknowledge the MAHA movement without surrendering to it:

• “More and more options are available for people who want different ingredients. That’s a good thing. We’re committed to giving you the choice to stick with the original you love.”

3. Reassure without condescension.
You don’t need to turn your homepage into a textbook. But you should make it easy for people who are worried to find clear, plain-English answers:

• “Curious about what’s in here and why? Here’s our ingredient story in simple language.”

The goal isn’t to win an argument. It’s to show that you’ve done the work, you respect people’s concerns, and you’re making deliberate choices, not cutting corners.

Why the words matter more than ever

In a moment when a movement like MAHA can flip an entire category in a few years, the brands that win will be the ones that reframe faster and smarter, not the ones with the longest FAQ page.

Reformulate or don’t. Introduce a “clean” line or double down on the original. There is no one right answer for every company or every product.

But there is a right way—and a wrong way—to talk about whichever path you choose.

At maslansky + partners, we’ve spent decades helping brands in food, health, and beyond navigate exactly these kinds of language challenges. We combine behavioral science with real-world language testing to figure out what to say, how to say it, and why it works—so that your audiences don’t just hear you, they believe you.

If you’re wrestling with how to talk about ingredients, reformulation, or MAHA inside your organization, we’d love to help.

For a deeper dive into this subject, check out our HearSay podcast episode.

And contact us for a working session or presentation on the Language of MAHA and Food Ingredients. Let’s make sure your next move is the right one… and that it sounds right too.