Listen "The Great Seed Oil Panic"
Episode Synopsis
Seed oils have become a target of wellness influencers and high-profile public officials. They say that these widely used and relatively inexpensive oils, which include canola, soybean and sunflower oil, are toxic. But do we really need to panic? Host Kendra Pierre-Louis speaks with food science expert Eric Decker to unpack what seed oils actually are, how their fats compare with those from other sources and whether claims about their toxicity hold up to scientific scrutiny.
Recommended Reading:
RFK, Jr., Upsets Food Pyramid, Urging Americans to Eat More Meat
E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Recommended Reading:
RFK, Jr., Upsets Food Pyramid, Urging Americans to Eat More Meat
E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More episodes of the podcast Science Quickly
ENCORE: Science’s Greatest 180s
29/12/2025
The Quest for Climate-Ready Christmas Trees
24/12/2025
2025: The Year Science Was Shaken
22/12/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.