Seed oils, RFK, Jr., and the truth
Kennedy claims seed oils are poisoning Americans, and wants us to fry in beef fat instead. What should be in your pan?
August 24, 2025
RFK, Jr. says seed oils are poisoning Americans. That’s a dramatic claim—especially coming from our nation’s Secretary of Health.
I wondered if Kennedy was talking about the hexane in seed oil.
Extracting oil from soy and other seeds usually involves hexane, a toxic solvent that, in high doses, damages the nervous system and affects male fertility. However, I couldn’t find any complaints from Kennedy about hexane residue in seed oil. That doesn’t seem to be Kennedy’s concern, nor should it be – but we will get back to that.
So is Kennedy’s real worry the omega-6 fatty acids in seed oils? Probably. Not because he’s said so directly, but because wellness influencers frequently promote the idea that omega-6s are harmful. TikTok is full of unproven and disproven claims about the negative effects: highly inflammatory, promotes toxin accumulation, ages your cells, immune system damage, insulin resistance – all caused by the omega-6 fatty acids in the eight Making America Healthy Again, or MAHA, targeted seed oils:
canola (rapeseed)
soybean
corn
sunflower
cottonseed
grapeseed
rice bran
safflower
While the omega-3 fatty acids in seed oils are particularly effective at reducing chronic inflammation, both omega-6s and omega-3s play roles in creating and reducing inflammation. That balance is essential: inflammation is a key weapon in fighting infection and healing injuries. However, Secretary Kennedy seems to support the false belief that omega-6s cause excess inflammation leading to diabetes and other chronic disease.
In sum, the advice from nutrition experts everywhere, including at the NIH, has been that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in seed oils are a benefit to our diet and that the evidence has demonstrated the omega-6s in seed oils do not cause us inflammatory problems, as MAHA has claimed.
So what has Kennedy actually said?
RFK, Jr. has posted on social media that – referring to 1990 and the point at which MacDonald’s switched from frying in beef fat to frying in seed oils – “we have since discovered that seed oils are one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic.”
The Health Secretary is mistaken. When he points out that the beginning of the meteoric rise of fast and ultraprocessed food was coincident with the meteoric rise of obesity in America, Kennedy misdirects the blame to the seed oil in the ultraprocessed food. Sure, seed oils are a key component in a lot of ultraprocessed foods, but it’s the ultraprocessed food itself, and the food engineering which makes it hyper-palatable and calorie-dense that is driving over-consumption and is to blame for the obesity epidemic.
The culprit was and is the massively-scaled food-engineering and marketing of the food industry.
So, false, Mr. Secretary: seed oils are not “one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic.”
Unfortunately, when it comes to fat used for frying, Kennedy’s recommendation is to use meat fat instead of seed oil. Nutrition scientists agree: switching back to meat tallow for frying is not a healthy choice.
We know eating the saturated fat in tallow tends to increase the risk of heart disease and can raise levels of bad cholesterol and inflammation in your body. This is misguided advice and a very bad policy direction from our nation’s top health official.
And what about the hexane used to make seed oils? Hexane is removed from the processed oil almost entirely, leaving scientists at peace that seed oil is safe. For those who can afford to pay more for extra assurance, some seed oils like flaxseed and canola are available expeller-pressed or cold-pressed in a process done without any hexane.
Of course, extra virgin and virgin olive oils are fruit oils and not a MAHA target. Both are rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds and are always a very healthy choice.
Seed oils aren’t villains. The real challenge is addictive ultraprocessed foods. So what do you think—about seed oils, MAHA, ultraprocessed food, and the future of eating in America?”
Ric Bayly