The 30-second ads make the case that a single nationwide standard for ingredient transparency and food labeling would aid grocery affordability, citing a study commissioned by AFIT earlier this year that found the current patchwork of state-by-state labeling requirements will drive up food prices by 12% nationwide.

In recent years, several states have taken individual steps to ban or regulate certain ingredients in school lunches or to require labeling on products that exceed Food and Drug Administration standards, which industry leaders see as burdensome barriers to trade.

Polling from the Trumpworld pollster Fabrizio Ward last year found that 87% of voters in swing House districts support a national standard, as opposed to state-based initiatives, for ingredient regulation and labeling.

Husted has proposed that the executive branch and Congress work together to pass updated food regulations, including a consistent national standard for ingredient transparency. Collins has not made food reform a significant platform in her reelection bid. Last year, Marshall proposed a federal food labeling reform bill backed by AFIT but, under pressure from MAHA activists, altered key language in the legislation that would have preempted states from enacting their own tougher regulations. Since then, it has not advanced out of the Senate health committee.

The AFIT ad for Husted, which will be aired on television in the Cleveland area as of Thursday, thanks the Ohio senator for “supporting a national ingredient standard that will keep food prices from rising, expand options at the grocery store, and ensure consistent labels for more informed choices.”

The ads for Collins and Marshall, which will be aired in Portland, Maine, and Wichita, Kansas, respectively, praise them for “fighting to make life more affordable” and encourage voters to call the campaigning senators to support federal food labeling.

“The seven-figure campaign thanks Ohio Senator John Husted for supporting a national ingredient standard and urges Senator Susan Collins and Senator Roger Marshall to take the next step to prevent a 12% grocery price hike,” reads the press release from AFIT about the new ads.

AFIT has been characterized by food reform hard-liners as a “faux-MAHA” group, because it backs a less stringent national standard for ultraprocessed food regulations than states have enacted. The 501(c)(4) organization is backed by the largest food conglomerates in the United States, including Kraft-Heinz, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Nestle, and others.

Critics say the group’s name makes it seem like a MAHA-aligned group to give the industry more power in crafting new regulations from the Trump administration and Congress.

But the group presents a measured response to the MAHA call to action for companies to improve messaging about the ingredients in foods, beverages, and personal care products. The group argues that ingredient transparency, as opposed to outright bans, gives consumers more choices about product choices to protect their health.

The Consumer Brands Association, the largest trade association for food and beverage makers and also a member of AFIT, has called on its companies to voluntarily include front-of–package labeling for sodium, saturated fats, and sodium levels in their products, as well as include QR codes for detailed nutritional information.

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Marshall is a likely contender to succeed Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who lost his primary election in May to Trump-endorsed MAHA candidate Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA).

Collins and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) both have more seniority than Marshall on the committee, but they each chair other committees that they are unlikely to give up to take over the health committee seat.