12-Year-Old Jax Bari Exposes Big Food: The Gluten Guessing Game Ends Now!

On February 4, 2026, Jax Bari delivered an impassioned call on the MAHA Media Hub about his FDA Citizen Petition to require the labeling of Gluten on all packaged foods in the United States, just like Gluten must be declared on all food labels in 87 other countries. On January 21, 2026, Secretary Kennedy issued a press release and a Request for Information (RFI) to take next steps to require Gluten labeling and respond to Jax's Citizen Petition.

MAHA Action Spotlights Jax's Work with Secretary Kennedy and the MAHA Commission

"Representing a new generation of activists, 12-year-old Jax Bari calls for radical transparency and the mandatory labeling of barley, rye, and oats to protect the millions of children suffering from Celiac Disease." -- Tony Lyons, MAHA Action

Transcript

Tony Lyons: Jax is a notable activist, Co-Founder of Celiac Journey. He's a true MAHA Kid advocating with common sense answers to require the labeling a Gluten on all packaged foods, and a whole bunch of other things. Jax is doing great work It's really great to have you here. Jax welcome to the MAHA Media Hub!

Jax Bari: Hi. I’m Jax Bari. I’m 12 years old, I’m from Philadelphia, and I’m the MAHA Kid.

Thanks Mr. Lyons and thanks to everyone who is part of the MAHA Movement!

I’m grateful for this opportunity to share my goal – Eating without fear!

Since 2020, I’ve been advocating to require the labeling of Gluten as a Major Food Allergen on all packaged foods in the U.S.

The amazing new Dietary Guidelines just flipped the food pyramid.

Similarly, the FDA is turning the tide on the Gluten guessing game.

Just 2 weeks ago, the MAHA Momentum continued with the FDA taking next steps to require Gluten labeling by demanding ingredient transparency!

I’m very grateful!

Like 729,000 American children, I have Celiac Disease which is a potentially life-threatening food allergy and auto-immune disease.

Just before I started Kindergarten, I was diagnosed with Celiac when I was not growing.

As I learned to read, I started with fairy tales and food labels which are incomplete and confusing.

Celiac impacts more than 3.3 million Americans, greater than 1.0% of the general population.

Celiac is triggered by eating Gluten, a protein found in Wheat, Barley, Rye and most Oats.

The only treatment for Celiac is a strict Gluten Free diet for life.

In 1985, the FDA issued a Final Rule which found that labeling Gluten ingredients is more "desirable" than Gluten Free labeling, and that all Gluten ingredients must be identified by name when they are used in food.

That was 41 years ago, but the FDA has never enforced this.

Since 2006, Wheat has been required to be labeled in the U.S., but Barley, Rye and Oats have not! That’s created a massive food safety gap.

Did you know that 44% of Celiacs who follow a strict Gluten Free diet still get Glutened once per month?

Gluten ingestion for Celiacs causes more than 200 debilitating symptoms including anemia, cancer, intestinal damage, and malnutrition.

Unlike traditional IgE-Mediated food allergies, there’s no rescue medication for Celiacs in the event of accidental ingestion of Gluten, and one cannot outgrow Celiac.

Gluten is like kryptonite to me.

If I eat just a crumb of Gluten, just a crumb, I can get very sick, living on the bathroom floor, with vomiting and diarrhea for days. It’s awful!

Gluten also damages my small intestine.  

When I was 5, I had Marsh 3 level damage to my small intestine from Gluten.

I was told that the doctors only see Marsh 4 level damage when they do an autopsy. It was really bad!

Celiac is every bite, every day! Constant worrying, constant questioning, constant uncertainty, constant high cost!

Since Gluten is not declared as a Major Food Allergen in the U.S., Celiacs have been forced to rely on products that are voluntarily labeled Gluten Free. Often times, these products are ultra-processed foods that are sold at premium prices.

Celiac is a Disease, NOT a Diet!

Imagine if you had a Tree Nut allergy and only Almonds and Pistachios were required to be labeled, but not other Tree Nuts such as Walnuts & Pecans. That would create a massive food safety gap that needed to be closed.

Fortunately for those with a Tree Nut allergy, that scenario is not the case.

But that similar safety gap exists with the voluntary labeling of Barley, Rye, and Oats!

That’s why I filed a Citizen Petition with the FDA to require the labeling of Gluten on all packaged foods in the US.

87 other countries require the labeling of Gluten including in Canada, Mexico and across Europe.

In August, I met with the White House Domestic Policy Council about common-sense solution to the childhood chronic disease crisis.

I’m grateful that the MAHA Commission included my common sense solution as 1 of the 128 bold initiatives in the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy Report!

This marks the first time ever that a White House, Democrat or Republican, has included Celiac Disease in its policy making! This is bipartisan, actionable and not controversial.

The MAHA Strategy Report also included 2 of Celiac Journey’s research interest areas: the microbiome and drug repurposing.

We are thrilled that the FDA issued a Request for Information on Gluten labeling on January 21^st in response to my FDA Citizen Petition!

We need the MAHA Momentum to continue and for people to share their comments with the FDA on why Barley, Rye and Oats must be labeled, their challenges when shopping and reading labels, and their adverse reactions to Gluten ingestion, etc.

I want to thank President Trump, Secretary Kennedy, Commissioner Makary, Kyle Diamantas, Calley Means, Dr. Heidi Overton, Jackson Allen, Karalee Geis, the White House Domestic Policy Council and Office of the Public Liaison!

Thank you again Mr. Lyons.

With your help, let’s make eating without fear possible again and get Gluten grains declared as Major Food Allergens!

Let’s do this!

Thank you Lyons.

Tony Lyons: Thanks so much Jax. You are incredible. You're an inspiration, and you're exactly the kind of leader of a new generation, a whole new generation of common sense activists. You represent millions of children who've been given foods that are unhealthy, who've been given medicines or vaccines that are unhealthy, and it's so great to have you speaking out, and I hope that you go onto to inspire millions of other children to do the same thing. Thanks again for coming on.

Jax Bari: Thank you so much Mr. Lyons. Great to see you.