ANH Files Landmark Legal Petition to Unlock 118 Censored Health Claims
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ANH’s landmark petition could finally bring 118 suppressed, government-backed nutrient-disease claims to store shelves—changing how Americans make choices about nutrition and health.
ANH has filed an unprecedented legal petition to the FDA seeking approval of 118 nutrient–disease health claims, all drawn from government scientific publications.
ANH General Counsel Jonathan Emord argues the case is a First Amendment test that could finally align FDA policy with Congress’s intent and deliver life-saving information directly to consumers.
ANH founder and Executive & Scientific Director Rob Verkerk, PhD, emphasizes the petition’s potential to transform public health by making credible, government-backed claims visible on product labels, helping reduce chronic disease and dependency on pharmaceuticals.
This week, the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) filed what may be its most consequential legal action in its 33-year history: a petition to the FDA that, if successful, would allow 118 nutrient-disease claims—each drawn directly from the government’s own scientific publications—to finally reach the public.
A First Amendment Test for FDA
Jonathan Emord (pictured below), ANH General Counsel and lead attorney on the case, underscored just how historic this petition is:
“The petition we filed this week is unprecedented. It seeks a remarkable 118 health claims, drawing each from the government’s own scientific publications. In other words, this is the government’s own speech. As such, it cannot reasonably be deemed ‘commercial speech’ entitled to less than full First Amendment protection, nor can it reasonably be suppressed because the government cannot, on the one hand, proclaim certain nutrient-disease risk reductions as scientifically valid and, on the other, deny those who sell those very nutrients the opportunity to make the very same statements on labels and in labeling.”
Emord emphasized that the filing not only challenges the FDA’s long-standing suppression of health claims but also seeks to realign the agency’s interpretation of the law with the original intentions of Congress.
“The petition thus not only seeks approval for an unprecedented number of claims but also mounts a First Amendment challenge to FDA’s prior, suppressive interpretation of the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act’s authoritative government statements section as well as insists on an interpretation (novel for the FDA) of that section in perfect alignment with the intentions of Congress. The petition is thereby positioned under Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo to withstand any negative determination that might come from FDA.
“This is a good test for FDA Commissioner Makary and Secretary Kennedy, to see if they will honor the MAHA transparency agenda and allow into the marketplace at the point of sale more nutrient-disease risk reduction information than ever before. If they do, they will advance the MAHA agenda greatly by better enabling consumers to make health enhancing decisions at the point of sale in the grocery stores and online. These changes will save lives, extend longevity, and reduce early onset of age-related diseases.”
Download the ANH Media Pack, including press release and background information
A Public Health Game-Changer
Rob Verkerk, PhD (pictured below), ANH’s founder and Executive & Scientific director, offered some reflections on this week’s petition to the FDA, the single biggest action ever taken by ANH in its 33-year history:
“Imagine walking into a store and seeing truthful, government-backed statements like these on labels: ‘Vitamin K2 and magnesium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis,’ ‘Potassium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and stroke,’ or ‘Grape seed and skin-derived antioxidants may reduce the risk of heart disease.’ These are not marketing slogans—they are authoritative findings published by the NIH or CDC. Yet for more than 25 years, consumers have been denied access to them at the very moment of choice.”
Dr. Verkerk highlighted how such changes could transform individual and population health:
“If these claims become visible on food, functional foods, medical foods, and dietary supplements that contain the requisite amounts of nutrients that are reflected by the supporting science, the implications for public health are profound. People managing blood pressure could learn from labels that potassium—whether from vegetables, functional foods, or dietary supplements, helps protect the heart and arteries. Women concerned about bone strength could see that vitamin K2 and magnesium support skeletal integrity. Millions at risk of cardiovascular disease could finally read on a product label that grape seed antioxidants reduce risk.
“But there’s so much more: the nutrient-disease claims already recognized by US agencies that we’re asking the FDA to approve could be transformational to health—contributing directly to the MAHA agenda, rather than just paying lip service to it.”
Download the ANH Media Pack, including press release and background information
The petition, Dr. Verkerk explained, could go even further by challenging the dominance of pharmaceuticals in areas where safe, natural alternatives are available:
“People managing cholesterol could learn from labels that garlic helps lower LDL cholesterol; imagine that—a government-sanctioned alternative to statins! Those at risk of dementia could see that ginkgo biloba may reduce their risk. Women navigating pregnancy could discover that ginger reduces nausea and vomiting. And the one in three American adults that currently suffer from metabolic syndrome might finally see, on a product label, that chromium can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
“This is about much more than health information; it’s about extending healthy lifespan. The US currently ranks a shocking 80th in the world for health-adjusted life expectancy, according to the Gates Foundation-funded Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). That statistic reflects decades of diet-related disease and missed opportunities to prevent them.”
Dr. Verkerk concluded:
“Releasing nearly 120 nutrient–disease claims into the marketplace won’t solve everything, but it could transform public awareness. It would bridge the yawning gap between established nutrition science and the daily choices people make about food and supplements. In doing so, it could help bend the curve on chronic disease, reduce dependency on pharmaceuticals, and give Americans a better shot at long, healthy lives.”
The Bottom Line
ANH’s petition is a fight for transparency, consumer rights, and public health. If successful, it would mark a turning point in Americans’ ability to access credible, government-backed nutrition science where it matters most: on the products they buy and use every day.
Please share this article widely and help us continue our unique work to re-establish free speech on health in the US and break down the influence of the medico-industrial complex by supporting our legal work with a donation.
For more information:
ANH Media Pack, including press release and background information
