Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) means maximizing “meaningful choice” and “accessible transparency,” American Beverage Association (ABA) President and CEO Kevin Keane said during the Improving Health, Strengthening the Economy event on Wednesday moderated by Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow.
“You talk about being MAHA, so making America healthy again, of course we support that and we’ve been working on that for much of two decades, including in new and innovative ways since the president took office this year,” Keane began, explaining that there are key elements that the ABA considers as “core to succeed in accomplishing the MAHA agenda” from their perspective in the beverage industry. Those key elements include meaningful choice and transparency.
“[The] first is providing as much meaningful choice to the consumer that you can, and that’s where the innovation comes in. Secondly is to be as transparent and have as much accessible transparency for the consumer about our products as possible, and then empower that consumer to make the decisions that are best for them and their families,” he said, explaining that they have been “hard at work” on those things for “some time.”
“I mean, I think if you see the table out front and people go down their beverage aisle, they’ll see all the new choices that are being driven by our major companies,” he said, naming Coca-Cola and Pepsi as some examples, as well as some regional favorites like Polar and Cheerwine.
Keane noted that “meaningful choice” is all about “giving people options that aren’t just out there for the sake of being out there.” These choices, he continued, actually taste good and have zero sugar in them.
Improving Health, Strengthening the Economy — American Beverage Association event — Matthew Perdie / Breitbart News 10-8-2025
He added that sixty percent of the drinks Americans purchase have zero sugar, and he explained that — despite popular belief — these are not all diet sodas.
“So think about that — 60 percent of what people are buying has zero sugar. Now some people may automatically go and think, ‘Ok, that’s the diet soda, that’s the zero sugar soda.’ No, it’s much more than that,” he said, adding greater perspective by noting that 51 percent of that 60 percent figure is actually “non-soda beverages” including sparkling water, flavored waters, and more.
“It’s the teas. It’s the sports drinks now that have zero sugar. It’s the new hydration drinks like Bodyarmor [and] Propel,” he said.
“It’s the energy drinks, you know, that are zero sugar,” Keane continued. “That’s really where the innovation is, and it tastes good. That’s why people are putting a dollar down and have true meaningful options, and we’ll get into this a little bit later, but we’re also trying to make what’s in those options more transparent and accessible to the consumer as well.”
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