BATON ROUGE — With the nation's health secretary watching, Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday signed bills he said were aimed at "enhancing nutritional standards" as well as removing food additives and promoting the purchase of locally sourced produce and other healthy foods.

"We can, we must, we will do better," Landry told an audience at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center with Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sitting beside him.

The first of the two laws — which went through the session as SB 14 — restricts the sale of foods with additives, including food dyes and synthetic sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame, at public schools. Food products with the targeted additives must also be branded with a disclaimer and QR code detailing the contents.

The law, which author Sen. Patrick McMath called the "Make America Healthy Again Act," also requires doctors to complete a nutrition and metabolic health course every four years. 

"We're mass poisoning (our kids) with toxic foods," Kennedy said, blaming those who make processed and fast foods. "They're swimming around in a toxic soup."

Demonstrators said that while removing additives from school lunches and other areas of culinary life is a noble endeavor, Landry could have done so without attaching himself to a vaccine skeptic like RKF Jr.

"I'm not here to protest this. I'm here to protest him," one of the dozens of protestors gathered along Perkins Road said. "Healthier food, healthier diet, more exercise, all of that would be very important, especially in Louisiana." 

As they marched from Velodrome Park to Pennington, the group carried signs claiming "RFK is the danger, NOT vaccines."

"Vaccines Make America Healthy," another sign read. "RFK lies, kids die."

Another sign did not mince words: "He's killing us one American at a time; you're complicit!"

Landry also signed SB 19, which eases access to the animal dewormer ivermectin. Conspiracy theorists have said the National Institutes of Health have determined that ivermectin cures cancer but that the government is stopping its use. Researchers say ivermectin should be explored for use with other therapies, but it's use as a cure is unfounded.

The governor also signed a letter to the Trump administration requesting the restriction of sales of unhealthy foods using Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program funds, formerly known as food stamps. In May, Landry signed an order to ask the federal government for the SNAP restriction, claiming it was an outright ban at the time. 

"The goal is to ensure our tax dollars are used effectively to promote health while aiding the most vulnerable," Landry said. "But our work is far from complete. We must continue to challenge a system that has been prioritizing profit over health."

The new legislation and appeal to the federal government is part of a larger movement to "Make America Healthy Again," Landry and Kennedy said. 

"This initiative promotes a shift toward healthier living, better nutrition, a brighter future for our children and our families," Landry said. "The MAHA movement emphasizes small, impactful actions such as choosing water over soda, walking more, supporting local (farmers) or purchasing fresh produce."

He said a healthier population will also reduce the state's reliance on Medicaid. 

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, blamed the Centers for Disease Control for making the country the "sickest nation in the world," adding that $1.7 trillion annually goes to fighting chronic diseases. 

Kennedy said Landry is working to fix this issue in Louisiana, which is ranked among the bottom five states for health. Kennedy praised Landry's handling of what he called a "chronic disease epidemic in this country." 

"(This legislation) is going to change Louisiana," Kennedy said, claiming that four years from now, Louisiana will not be among the lowest-ranked states.

He also claimed that the United States had the highest death rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that America had 16 percent of the pandemic-related deaths, despite having four percent of the world's population.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Peru had the highest mortality rate during the pandemic at nearly 666 deaths per 100,000 people; America was second on the list at 341 deaths per 100,000.

Among other claims, Kennedy also said that one in every 31 American children has autism, saying the cost of this will balloon to $1 trillion annually by 2030 and that 75 percent of American children will not be able to qualify for military service. 

According to ABC News, medical experts say this increase from one in 150 in 2000 is largely due to better awareness, better access to screening and services and diagnosis of the wide range of autism spectrum disorders.

Over the last month, Kennedy has made multiple widespread changes across the nation's health department, including ousting the entire CDC vaccine advisory committee. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor, welcomed Kennedy to Baton Rouge earlier in the week. His office said that the pair worked together to "eliminate harmful ingredients and artificial dyes, safeguard children from sex change operations, and, most recently, increase patients’ access to life-saving treatment through prior authorization reform."

“I know how passionate you are — and I am — about having good nutrition to Make America Healthy Again,” said Cassidy, who chaired the committee that confirmed Kennedy's nomination as HHS secretary earlier this year.

Despite voting to approve Kennedy, Cassidy expressed concerns about RFK Jr.'s stance on vaccines during the Senate confirmation hearing.