The Truth About Seed Oils and Ultra-Processed Foods

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Businessweek Episode Title: The Truth About Seed Oils and Ultra-Processed Foods
Release Date: November 10, 2025
Hosts: Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec
Guest: Dr. Julia Wolfson, Associate Professor, International Health Department, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

---

Overview

This episode explores the prevalence and impact of ultra-processed foods on American diets, their definitions, and the challenges in reducing their consumption—particularly among children. Dr. Julia Wolfson, a public health expert, dives into what constitutes an ultra-processed food, why these products dominate grocery shelves, and policy and practical strategies to address the issue.

---

Main Themes & Key Discussion Points

Prevalence of Ultra-Processed Foods in the American Diet

• Current Statistics:
  • Americans obtain more than half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods.
    • “About 62% of childhood diets come from highly processed foods…about 53% for adults.” (Host 2, 01:21)
  • Both children and adults are heavily exposed, with implications for public health.

Defining Ultra-Processed Foods

• Scientific Definition and Identification:
  • Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured, containing ingredients and additives not found in home kitchens.
  • Key features include:
    • Processes like extrusion, fractioning
    • Additives: emulsifiers, sweeteners, thickeners, artificial flavors/colors
    • Assessed via the NOVA classification system
    • “If you look at that ingredient list and you see even one…that’s not something I would cook with…I don’t even know how to pronounce that. That’s a signal. That’s an ultra-processed food.” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 04:01)

Marketing Tactics and "Healthwashing"

• Nutrient Additions Don't Eliminate Processing:
  • Adding “healthy” buzz words or nutrients (e.g., protein, whole grain, vitamins) does not change the ultra-processed status.
    • “The addition of other nutrients that we might think are beneficial does not change that food…It’s still ultra processed.” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 04:43)

Parental and Economic Challenges

• Why are these foods so dominant?
  • Convenience, affordability, aggressive marketing to children, and the difficulty of preparing whole foods regularly.
    • “There are a lot of reasons for that…taste preferences are shaped very early, a lot of marketing—particularly to children...they’re easier to grab and go…more affordable too…” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 05:36)
  • Offering easy, unprocessed snacks is a strategy, but it requires more time, effort, and often greater cost.

Differentiating "Bad" vs. "Not-So-Bad" Processed Foods

• Nuance in Processing:
  • Homemade or artisan products (e.g., pizza, bread) made with basic ingredients aren’t considered ultra-processed, versus mass-manufactured, shelf-stable counterparts that often are.
    • “That kind of pizza…combining wheat and…flour and salt and yeast…and fresh tomato sauce—that’s not an ultra-processed food.” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 08:23)
  • Most supermarket breads, even whole wheat, are ultra-processed due to added preservatives and “softness” agents.

Policy and the Role of Government

• Government Policy:
  • Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to address these issues, but effective policy is challenging due to the affordability and accessibility of ultra-processed foods.
    • “Cutting or even eliminating SNAP benefits is not helpful…thinking about labeling or getting ultra-processed foods out of schools…while giving schools the resources they need…would be a step in the right direction.” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 10:08)

Underlying Drivers

• Economic & Cultural Factors:
  • Shelf stability, affordability, time/mental energy savings, and the ingrained nature of these products in the food system.
    • “…they make food more shelf stable, are often times more affordable, and they save people time and mental energy…Frozen dinner vs. making all the components yourself…” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 11:05)
  • Systemic change will be slow and complex, but worth pursuing.

The Protein Question

• Americans and Protein:
  • Are we overconsuming? Yes: “It is possible to eat too much protein and Americans do eat a lot of protein. So we are not suffering from a shortage of protein in the US as a whole.” (Dr. Julia Wolfson, 11:41)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On reading food labels:
  “If you look at that ingredient list and you see even one…that’s not something I would cook with…I don’t even know how to pronounce that. That’s a signal. That’s an ultra-processed food.”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 04:01

• On food industry health claims:
  “The addition of other nutrients that we might think are beneficial does not change that food…It’s still ultra processed.”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 04:43

• On kids and ultra-processed foods:
  “Taste preferences are shaped very early, a lot of marketing—particularly to children...they’re easier to grab and go…more affordable too…”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 05:36

• On what separates ‘bad’ processed food from the rest:
  “That kind of pizza…combining wheat and…flour and salt and yeast…and fresh tomato sauce—that’s not an ultra-processed food.”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 08:23

• On government’s role and accessibility:
  “Cutting or even eliminating SNAP benefits is not helpful…thinking about labeling or getting ultra-processed foods out of schools…while giving schools the resources they need…would be a step in the right direction.”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 10:08

• On the dominance of ultra-processed foods:
  “…they make food more shelf stable, are often times more affordable, and they save people time and mental energy…Frozen dinner vs. making all the components yourself…”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 11:05

• On moderation and protein:
  “It is possible to eat too much protein and Americans do eat a lot of protein. So we are not suffering from a shortage of protein in the US as a whole.”
  — Dr. Julia Wolfson, 11:41
  “Everything in moderation. Like it’s pretty logical. Just do that.”
  — Host 1, 11:52

---

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Statistics on ultra-processed foods in American diets: 01:21
• Defining ultra-processed foods & ingredient red flags: 02:41–04:24
• Addressing industry "healthwashing" of processed foods: 04:24–04:43
• Challenges for parents & economic factors: 05:13–06:38
• Defining the “bad” vs. less concerning ultra-processed foods: 07:24–09:55
• US policy and government actions: 09:55–10:53
• Drivers behind the dominance of ultra-processed foods: 10:53–11:37
• Quick take: Can you eat too much protein? 11:37–11:52

---

Conclusion

The discussion demystifies the concept of ultra-processed foods and why they are so prevalent. Dr. Wolfson clarifies that ingredient lists, not just calories or "healthy" claims, are key. The path to dietary improvement includes both personal strategies (reading labels, prepping fresh snacks) and systemic changes (policy, resource support for schools). Moderation and food literacy remain core takeaways.

Transcript

[Host 1]

Bloomberg businessweek is brought to you by Evolving Money, a podcast that explores how cryptocurrency is the next logical evolution of the financial system. Follow the podcast, which is sponsored by Coinbase. Wherever you get your audio programs in.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Business, a gift says more than thank you. It's a message that reflects your brand, your attention to detail, your values and your relationships. That's why marketers and brand leaders trust 4imprint 4imprint offers thousands of high quality customizable products like branded drinkware, premium apparel, smart tech and more, all backed by expert support. And with their three with a 360 degree guarantee, you can be four imprint certain your gifts arrive on time, exactly as expected, and on brand. Explore gifting with [e-mail] for imprint for.

[Host 2]

Certain.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Did my card go through?

[Host 1]

Oh no.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Your small business depends on its Internet, so switch to Verizon business and you could get LTE Business Internet starting at $39 a month when paired with select Business Mobile plans. That's unlimited data for unlimited business.

[Host 1]

There we go.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Get the Internet you need at the price you want. Veriz Verizon Business Starting Price For LTE Business Internet 25 Mbps Unlimited Data Plan with Select Verizon Business Smartphone plan. Savings terms apply.

[Host 1]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news.

[Host 2]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stanovec on Bloomberg Radio. Americans get more than half of their daily calories from ultra processed foods with salty, sugary items. More than half. This is according to a government study that was released back in August. This government study ran from 20012021 to 2023, and it said that about 62% of childhood diets come from highly processed foods. Think burgers, pastries, snacks and pizza. This according to the U.S. centers for Disease Control and Prevention's nutrition study. The same foods have a similar grip on adults, making up about 53% of the calories that they consumed.

[Host 1]

That's a lot.

[Host 2]

Yeah. The question I have is whether or not Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy can actually make some headway on this. He said that the US Food supply is poisoning children. It's a question that I'll pose to Dr. Julia Wolfson, Associate professor in the International Health Department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on how ultra processed food affects our bodies. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health that is supported by Michael R. Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg TV and Radio. Dr. Wolfson, good to have you back with us it's been about a year since we last spoke. I just want to start with the definition of ultra processed foods. I was kind of surprised to see pizza and burgers on that list. How do you define it?

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah. So thanks for having me back. And ultra processed foods are defined by the list of ingredients that they're that are included in them. So these are foods and beverages that are industrial produced using processes that you wouldn't have in a home kitchen and ingredients that you also wouldn't have in a home kitchen. So these are industrial produced products used by processing techniques like extrusion fractioning, where you break down the pieces of the food into different things and then put it back together again. And they contain things like additives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, thickeners, artificial flavors and colorings and other kinds of substances, again, that you wouldn't use in a home kitchen. And so the most common definition we have is called the Nova classification system, which actually uses the ingredient list on a product to look for these kinds of ingredients that signal that a food or beverage has been through this industrial processed thing.

[Host 1]

So if we turn around, which I think increasingly we have a population that is doing that, and especially I've got a daughter who's 22, younger generation looking at stuff. But if there are a ton of ingredients and ingredients you don't understand, should you assume that that's ultra processed?

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah. That is what we recommend as the way to know if a food or beverage you're considering purchasing or eating is ultra processed. You flip over that package and if you look at that ingredient list and you see even one, but certainly a bunch of ingredients where you think, I don't know what that is. That's not something I would cook with. I don't even know how to pronounce that. That's a signal. That's an ultra processed food.

[Host 1]

So do we fix it by just infusing everything with protein and then it's.

[Host 2]

All okay, it's still ultra processed. Like I like even a protein.

[Host 1]

Are you picking on the pop Tart?

[Host 2]

Yeah, protein packed pop tart. We talked about this on our editorial call this morning.

[Host 1]

Sounds great. Protein with some glaze.

[Host 2]

Dr. I'm going to let you weigh in.

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah. So I mean, thinking about what our. That's a strategy the food industry uses maybe to signal that something is healthier for us by you know, saying, oh, this is protein rich or whole grain rich or this has vitamins or minerals. Right. But if it still has these other ingredients, it's still an ultra processed food. And so, you know, the addition of, you know, other nutrients that we might think are beneficial does not change that food into something that is not an ultra processed food. It's still ultra processed.

[Host 2]

So just really shocking to see 62% of childhood diets come from highly processed foods. That was wild to see. But at the same time, I'm thinking about my own family and how difficult it is to get my kids, who are 6 and 2, to eat food that we would consider not ultra processed. What is the best way to do that? What are strategies that work for kids? I think a lot of parents struggle with this.

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah. I mean, I think it's a struggle for all of us. Right. You know, it's not just kids, it's adults as well. You know, it's over half of adult diets. And I think there's a lot of reasons for that. It's, you know, our taste preferences are shaped very early, and there's a lot of marketing, particularly to children for these products. And they're easier to, they're easier to grab and go. There are, a lot of them are ready to eat and, you know, their snacks, they save time. And a lot of them are more affordable, too. So that's something to consider. I think it is the more snacks that you can have out that are not processed, that are easy to grab and go, that, you know, that is one strategy to help kids have more, say, fresh fruits and vegetables to snack on or healthy snacks that are made ahead that they can reach for easily. But again, that is extra work for parents and sometimes extra cost for parents as well. So it's it there, there are really good and intractable reasons why these foods comprise so much of our diets and particularly our children's diets.

[Host 1]

We're talking with Dr. Julia Wolfson, Associate Professor, International Health Department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. We're going to come back to her in just a moment. Headline crossing the Bloomberg Terminal coming from the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who has been meeting with President Trump at White House and the Prime Minister of Hungary, saying that Hungary wins US Sanctions exemption on Russian energy. And we know that there have been some stiff sanctions against Russian energy as a result of the Russian invasion and war against Hungary. So it looks like Hungary getting an exemption there.

[Host 2]

Yeah. Earlier, our team reported that President Trump signaled an openness to exempting Hungary from sanctions on purchases of Russian energy as he hosted Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

[Host 1]

All right, so let's get back to our guest talking with Dr. Julia Wolfson, Associate professor over at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Excuse me, she's in the International Health Department. So you know what's interesting? The stat that Tim mentioned from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, their nutrition survey, when they talked about highly processed food, they said pizza. So this not the pizza that you.

[Host 2]

Get and I get on Friday nights.

[Host 1]

That's what I want to ask you.

[Host 2]

Right.

[Host 1]

So, like, I go to a place where I know they are making their homemade crust from special weed.

[Host 2]

It's been featured in the New York.

[Host 1]

Times, you know, and it's. No, no, no, I know you're having fun, but I mean, it's like, you know, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, I guess maybe there's obviously some, like, homemade cheese there. But like what? Like how do we distinguish really, really bad processed food versus stuff that maybe isn't so bad?

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah, I think that, you know, that kind of pizza that you're describing, or let's think about bread, even pizza or bread make at home. Like you're combining wheat and, you know, flour and salt and yeast and, you know, you have your fresh tomato sauce. That's not an ultra processed food. So if that. But that is not the majority of the pizza that people are eating. So when we talk about things like pizza, it really could be those frozen pizzas that you get in the grocery store or maybe more produced pizzas that are made at scale and therefore have some sorts of preservatives or other kinds of ingredients that change the, say, the softness of the dough or something like that. Those are the ultra processed things. So not all ultra processed foods, though, are equally concerning. I would say, you know, I mentioned bread. So, you know, the bread that we might make by ourselves at home, like if we were some of the people who started making sourdough bread during COVID for example, that's not processed bread you might get at the bakery in your neighborhood that is made by scratch is not ultra processed. But most of the bread that we see on our supermarket shelves is ultra processed. That sliced bread that you see. And so. But that includes even whole wheat bread. So, you know, there are some ultra processed products that are by definition ultra processed because they might contain some of those buyers or things that turn them into that product, but they might still be. Some are less of a concern than others, I would say.

[Host 2]

So just in the last two minutes that we have with you, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has vowed to go after these food companies. So Americans do eat healthier thus far. How is he doing?

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Well, I mean, I think it's good that he's focusing on this as an issue. I think there are, as I mentioned, you know, there's a lot of reasons why we eat these foods. And one of them, a big one, is they're more affordable. They tend to be more affordable than scratch ingredients. They save time and they're more accessible. And so I think some of the policies of the administration say cutting or even eliminating SNAP benefits is not helpful for people to be able to avoid ultra processed foods. But thinking about labeling or getting ultra processed foods out of schools in a way that also balances with giving schools the resources they need to source and prepare less processed food would be a step in the right direction.

[Host 1]

Why do we just real quickly, 30, 40 seconds here, why do we have so much ultra processed food? Is it about keeping shelf life or like, what is it? Or is it just cheaper, mass production food? I don't know. Just quickly.

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

Yeah, I mean, it's the majority of the foods in our grocery store shelves, right? They make food or shelf stable. There are oftentimes more affordable and they're in high demand because they save people time and they save people mental energy as well. You know, it's a lot easier to say have a frozen dinner than it is to make all the components of the frozen dinner yourself. So there's demand for it. And you know, they've really dominated our food supply for decades now. So it will be really difficult to make that switch at a large scale. But it's worth considering how we can do it.

[Host 1]

One Last quick question. 25 seconds. Can we eat too much protein?

[Dr. Julia Wolfson]

I think it is possible to eat too much protein and Americans do eat a lot of protein. So we are not suffering from a shortage of protein in the US as a whole.

[Host 1]

That's what my dad said. Everything in moderation. Like it's pretty logical. Just do that.

[Host 2]

What, even ultra processed foods?

[Host 1]

Even French fries, I guess. No, no, not Dr. Julia Wolfson. So appreciate it. Associate professor in the International Health Department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This is Bloomberg.

[Sponsor Voice 3]

In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming [e-mail] Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming and performance that push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors for the next era of gaming. Upgrade to smooth high quality streaming with Intel Wi Fi 6e and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the tech search power [e-mail] lenovo.

[Host 1]

Lenovo.

[Sponsor Voice 4]

This podcast is brought to you by FedEx the new power Move hey, you know those people in your office who are always pulling old school corporate power moves? Like the guy who weaponizes eye contact. He's confident, he's engaged, he's often creepy. It's an old school power move. But this alpha dog laser gaze won't keep your supply chain moving across borders. The real power move? Having a smart platform that keeps up with the changing trade landscape. That's why smart businesses partner with FedEx and use the power of digital intelligence to navigate around supply chain issues before they happen. Set your sights on something that will actually improve your business. FedEx the new power move degree advanced.

[Sponsor Voice 5]

The world's number one antiperspirant provides up to 72 hours of protection against the sweat and odor that comes with life. Degree Is the wake up, work out, make a fully family breakfast. Antiperspirant the dashing, darting, carpool, honking, get the kids off to school. Antiperspirant the work from home and do the laundry, grocery shop on your lunch hour, never take a break. Antiperspirant so you can do what you need to do and work how you need to work. Sweat moves you forward. Degree Is here to make sure it doesn't hold you back. Degree Here for sweat.