ABA’s Kevin Keane: Beverage Industry Adopted MAHA Model to Promote Health ‘In a Free Market Way’

The American Beverage Association (ABA) is positioning itself as a model for how private industry can advance public health goals while preserving consumer choice, according to remarks made by ABA President and CEO Kevin W. Keane during Breitbart News’s Improving Health, Strengthening the Economy event on Wednesday. The discussion, moderated by Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow, explored how beverage companies are contributing to President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative through voluntary innovation, product transparency, and consumer empowerment.

Keane said the beverage industry has been collaborating with the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on efforts to address health concerns through private-sector innovation rather than regulation. “We’ve worked with the White House… kept going back to them when Susie Wiles’ team — once we were developing [the initiative] — and once we were ready to launch, we showed them the final product,” Keane said, recounting that Kennedy expressed appreciation for the association’s proactive approach. He described the ABA’s strategy as “being responsive to their concerns” while empowering consumers with “true choice [and] better information.”

Marlow noted the growth of zero- and low-sugar options across the market, from traditional sodas to newer flavored waters and prebiotic beverages. Keane stated that the trend reflects both innovation and consumer demand. “Just this year, our companies have at least 15 new product introductions that are zero sugar or low sugar,” he revealed. “Pepsi bought Poppi, but Pepsi is also developing their own prebiotic beverage, as is Coke… Gatorade, you have Gatorade water now, and Powerade just came out with Powerade water.” He highlighted that this is part of how “the free market works when you listen to the consumer,” emphasizing that “providing meaningful choice” remains central to the industry’s role in improving public health outcomes while maintaining taste and satisfaction.

Asked about balancing health initiatives with economic and personal freedom, Keane explained that the industry’s approach embodies both. “I think you can have it both ways,” he responded. “Our industry epitomizes that — we’ve been working on free-market solutions to these health challenges such as obesity and diabetes and doing our part. We can’t own all of it because we’re only 6 percent of the calories in a diet, but we’re sure going to do our best to own that piece.” He cautioned lawmakers against abandoning free-market principles as they pursue health policy reforms, adding, “Rely on the private sector to do their job, push them when they need to be pushed, raise the issues so they can respond effectively.”

Keane continued that the ABA’s work under the MAHA model “shows how the private sector can step up and solve real problems in a free market way,” asserting that it is “far more powerful than government coming in and trying to tell people what’s right, what’s wrong, what they could have and what they shouldn’t have.” He called the beverage industry “a model the MAHA movement and the administration can hold up as doing things right — trying to solve the problem in a free market way, listening to concerns, and delivering results.”

In July, Keane remarked the beverage industry’s Good to Know transparency initiative, launched earlier this year, supports the MAHA agenda by offering straightforward ingredient information through its website, GoodtoKnowFacts.org. The platform lists more than 140 beverage ingredients, including their common uses and safety assessments from agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada. “More than ever, Americans want transparency, and that’s exactly what we’re delivering,” Keane affirmed in the ABA’s announcement at the time. The effort was inspired by consumer demand and administration calls for greater openness about product ingredients, according to ABA Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Merideth Potter.

Keane and other ABA leaders have characterized their efforts as part of the long-term consumer-focused work within the beverage industry that aligns with MAHA’s focus on health and innovation. Over the past two decades, beverage companies have introduced hundreds of zero-sugar options, voluntarily removed full-calorie beverages from schools, and added front-of-pack calorie labels to promote informed decisions. “Sixty percent of the beverages Americans buy today have zero sugar,” Keane pointed out in a prior Breitbart News interview. He credited this shift to consumer choice and entrepreneurial risk-taking, explaining that beverage companies “started to create” these options because “they knew there were countless people out there who wanted options without sugar or, at the very least, with less sugar.”

During Wednesday’s discussion, Keane also addressed why beverage companies often face criticism in health debates despite their public initiatives. “We’re big, high-profile brands and companies,” he acknowledged. “Because of that, if you’re trying to push an issue, we may in some cases be an easy target. That’s why we realized this year we needed to get out and be more aggressive in telling our story.” Keane maintained the industry’s work demonstrates how “a free market solution industry” can meet societal challenges “in the way that MAHA and the administration are looking for.” He underscored that the beverage sector “acts, not just talks — that’s what makes it fun.”