Steak ‘n Shake aligns with MAHA, creates chief officer role for healthier fast food

Steak ‘n Shake has tapped its first-ever chief MAHA officer — marking a new step in the fast-food chain’s push toward what it describes as healthier, more transparent ingredients.

Michael Boes will take on the new executive role, which is “dedicated to advancing nutritional integrity, ingredient transparency and the healthiness of our products,” the Indianapolis-based company announced Tuesday on social media. 

The move aligns with the brand’s broader embrace of Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

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Boes previously served as a senior adviser at the HHS.

He worked on health care policy and strategic initiatives, according to a post on LinkedIn.

“During my time serving Sec. Kennedy, I had countless conversations with industry partners about returning to real food,” Boes said in a post on Tuesday. 

“Time and again, I heard the same hesitation: ‘Our customers aren’t demanding this.’ Steak ‘n Shake challenged that narrative — and growth followed.”

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Boes continued, “Fast food doesn’t have to mean processed, complicated or artificial. It used to mean real, simple and delicious — and it can again.”

He said he looks forward to “helping drive the next chapter of growth on that foundation.”

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Steak ‘n Shake framed the hire as part of a larger effort to return to its roots.

“The move marks a major step in the company’s efforts to restore the original spirit of American fast food: food that is simple, real and delicious,” the company said in its X post.

“Customers should never have to choose between taste and health,” Boes was quoted as saying in the company’s post.

President Donald Trump shared the company’s X post — adding one simple word of praise for the move: “Awesome.”

In recent months, the chain has switched to cooking fries, tater tots and other fried items in 100% beef tallow, eliminating seed oils from those products, Fox News Digital previously reported.

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“We RFK’d our fries,” a company executive previously said of the shift to beef tallow from vegetable oil.

The company has also said it’s working with suppliers to remove seed oils more broadly, calling the transition “a journey” on its website.

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Other updates include the use of 100% Wisconsin butter in place of seed oils, offering cane sugar Coca-Cola as an alternative to high-fructose corn syrup and switching to a2 milk products (using a type of cow’s milk that may be easier for some people to digest).

Steak ‘n Shake has also reportedly indicated plans to move toward grass-fed beef and removing microwaves from kitchens in favor of more traditional cooking methods.

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Some of the company’s changes have sparked debate, particularly around its use of beef tallow, which is fat rendered from cows.

While some customers praise the move as a return to “authentic” cooking, others have questioned whether switching frying fats actually makes fast food any healthier.

Fox News Digital reached out to Steak ‘n Shake and the HHS for comment.