WASHINGTON — American Beverage Association (ABA) President and CEO Kevin Keane told Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow of the ABA’s proactive industry work with the White House during a health and economy-focused event on Wednesday.
Keane joined Marlow for a discussion at Breitbart News’s latest livestreamed event at the Riggs Hotel in the nation’s capital.
When Marlow asked Keane if the ABA was working in a proactive manner with the White House, which is deeply focused on Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) efforts, Keane responded affirmatively and pointed to the ABA’s Good to Know initiative, which he shared with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ team ahead of its launch.
He also noted that he showed the website, GoodtoKnowFacts.org, which provides use, regulatory, and alternative name details on more than 140 different beverage ingredients and is at the center of the initiative, to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We worked with the White House on Good to Know, got them informed about it when it was just a mere concept, kept going back to them. When Susie Wiles’ team — once we were developing it, and once we were ready to launch, we showed him the final product, and they put out a good word about it,” Keane told Marlow.
“I had an opportunity to meet with Secretary Kennedy for a few minutes earlier this summer, showed him the website, and he said, ‘Thank you,’” he added. “So I think there’s an acknowledgment that we’re trying to be responsive to their concerns and doing what we can to be responsive, and we would always do that. I mean, we want to be responsive to the president. He’s raising good questions, good issues, so is the secretary.”
Keane also emphasized the ABA’s mission to listen to consumers and empower them with information.
Improving Health, Strengthening the Economy — American Beverage Association event — Matthew Perdie / Breitbart News 10-8-2025
“But again, it’s part of our DNA, too, to listen to the consumer, make sure we’re being helpful to the consumer with true choice, better information, and empowering them. That’s what’s going to empower consumers: choice and information,” he said.
Keane highlighted where beverage companies are innovating from the private sector.
“They’re listening to consumers, they’re trying to come up with something that tastes good, that meets needs if they want something with a little less sugar,” Keane told Marlow. “And yes, I’ve been fortunate to be in their lab, and they’re good scientists as well as product innovators, and it’s fun.”
Keane also detailed the more than a dozen products that companies affiliated with ABA released in the past year that are low-sugar or zero-sugar, when Marlow zoned in on products that are not calorie-heavy, including diet and prebiotic sodas, such as Poppi, which Pepsi recently purchased.
“To show you that we’re not resting on our laurels on this, too, just this year, our companies have at least 15 new product introductions that are zero-sugar or low-sugar. So yes, Pepsi bought Poppi, but Pepsi is also developing their own prebiotic beverage, as is Coke, and those are coming in the marketplace,” Keane said.
“You know, Gatorade, you have Gatorade water now, and Powerade just came out with a Powerade water,” he added. “So it’s that type of innovation, because, look, everybody kind of knows this, you’re consumers too, you want a choice, you want options. I mean, people have their favorites, but you kind of want to try something new sometimes, or in the moment, you’re feeling like something different than maybe your favorite soft drink, so providing meaningful choice. In our business, taste is king, so we have to create something that tastes good, and that’s what our companies are doing, and consumers are responding to it, because, you know, you’re putting down your dollar, you’re getting something that tastes good.”
Marlow, who underscored his support for the MAHA movement, expressed a concern that America “can’t be MAHA at the expense of our freedoms,” and also asked how America can reconcile both health and freedom of choice in various products.
“I think you can have it both ways, and I think our industry epitomizes that,” Keane said. “We’re an industry that has been working on free market solutions to these health challenges, such as obesity and diabetes, and doing our part. You know, we can’t own all of it because we’re only six percent of the calories in the diet, but we’re sure going to do our best to own that piece and do something about it. And I think that 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. They can provide some opinions, but they should still empower that consumer with choice.”
“I mean, that is the American way. And I think that’s just a caution I would put out there, as lawmakers now are working on these issues, is don’t leave important principles behind — free market principles,” he continued. “Rely on the private sector to do their job, push them when they need to be pushed, raise the issues so that, you know, they can respond effectively. And you know, I think in our case, we’re a model. I would argue this is an industry that the MAHA movement and the administration could hold up as doing things right, trying to solve the problem in a free market way, listening to them and their concerns, and being responsive and delivering, too. It’s not just, you know, words; actions are what matter at the end of the day, and we’re an industry that acts.”
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