Vani Hari: Better Food Disclosure Act advocacy and opposition to AFIT

The Better Food Disclosure Act fight is one of Hari’s most sustained legislative engagements. When Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) drafted the bill, Hari met with him and publicly pressured him over a federal-preemption clause that she argued would have killed state truth-in-labeling laws. After backlash from MAHA leaders, Marshall stripped the preemption language, and the bill was introduced on November 6, 2025, with Sens. Rick Scott and Katie Britt as co-sponsors, per Civil Eats.

In parallel, Hari has publicly attacked the industry-funded group “Americans for Ingredient Transparency” (AFIT), which The Guardian reported is backed by ConAgra, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Hormel, and Nestlé. Hari said AFIT was “posing as a consumer-advocacy campaign” in order to “undo all of the grassroots work” behind state labeling laws. According to the Washington Examiner, AFIT escalated in September 2026 with a seven-figure ad buy in Kansas, Ohio, and Maine — praising Sens. Collins, Marshall, and Husted — pushing for a single federal labeling standard that would override stricter state rules.

Hari’s core argument, consistent with her state-level dye-ban advocacy, is that a single federal standard pitched as “transparency” would in practice preempt the tougher state laws that she credits with forcing national reformulation. The fight remains live.

Timeline

• 2025 — Hari meets with Sen. Roger Marshall and publicly pressures him over the draft bill’s federal-preemption clause; the preemption language is stripped.
• November 6, 2025 — The Better Food Disclosure Act is introduced with Sens. Marshall, Rick Scott, and Katie Britt, per Civil Eats.
• 2026 — Hari publicly attacks AFIT as an industry front “posing as a consumer-advocacy campaign,” per The Guardian’s reporting.
• September 2026 — AFIT launches a seven-figure ad buy in Kansas, Ohio, and Maine pushing a single federal labeling standard, per the Washington Examiner.