ORLANDO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Mondelez ( MDLZ ) CEO Dirk

van de Put on Tuesday said the Oreo maker will face new cost

pressures from the Make America Healthy Again movement

spearheaded by U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and

that Americans would see price hikes.

Make America Healthy Again could require that Mondelez ( MDLZ )

reformulate its U.S. products, which include Ritz crackers and

Chips Ahoy cookies, Van de Put said at an industry conference.

That would mean swapping out ingredients and food dyes it

currently uses.

Kennedy has said he plans to go after food additives, and

has also criticized ultra-processed foods.

When Kennedy was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human

Services last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive

order to establish a commission to "Make America Healthy Again,"

to investigate chronic illness and deliver an action plan to

fight childhood diseases.

MAHA is comparing U.S. food manufacturing to rivals in

Europe, Van de Put said. Because Mondelez ( MDLZ ) does business in both

regions, it would be "relatively straightforward" for the

Chicago-based company to adapt its recipes, he added.

"It's work that needs to be done," said Van de Put. "It's

cost that will come."

Additional costs the company will face stemming from MAHA

will ultimately trickle down to price hikes facing consumers at

store shelves, Van de Put said.

U.S. consumers are still reeling from once-in-a-generation

levels of food inflation stemming from a supply chain crisis

during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some ingredients, like eggs, cocoa

and coffee, continue to rise in price dramatically, though for

different reasons.

It's not an easy time to raise prices, Van de Put said, "so

I do expect it will take us a few years to work our way through

this."

He also said consumers will need to get used to chocolate

that is 30% to 50% more expensive than it used to be "because

that's what we're going to see" due to a supply crisis in

Africa. Mondelez ( MDLZ ) manufactures Cadbury and Milka chocolates.