Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others have said that seed oils are poisoning Americans. The medical community mostly rejects those claims, but they are causing problems for farmers.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says seed oils, like soybean, corn and sunflower oils, are poisoning Americans. Most of the medical community rejects that, but the messaging from the White House and its allies is causing real headaches for farmers who grow the oilseed crops. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports.

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: The oil from pressing corn, canola, soy and other plant seeds used to be known simply as vegetable oil. Now it's widely called seed oil, and RFK Jr. says the stuff triggers chronic inflammation. His Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement recently released a documentary slamming seed oil, along with fluoride and farm chemicals. Here's Catherine Shanahan, who calls herself Dr. Cate, on the video.

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CATHERINE SHANAHAN: The source of the most toxins is seed oils. They are worse than glyphosate, herbicides, pesticides combined. When you've been eating seed oils, your cells can't get energy out of it efficiently. And that's what causes heart attacks and strokes.

MORRIS: The American Heart Association, the Mayo Clinic and many other health advocates disagree. They point to decades of studies that show that seed oils reduce bad cholesterol and help stave off heart attacks and strokes. However, seed oils are used in deep-fried foods and high-calorie processed snacks, typically full of salt and sugar. That stuff is unhealthy, and seed oils may suffer a kind of guilt by association.

PHILLIP STEGNER: I have made a big, drastic switch in my personal life. I've, like, decided to, like, just not use them.

MORRIS: Phillip Stegner (ph) is general manager at Billie's Grocery, an upscale bakery and cafe in Kansas City.

STEGNER: We've had a lot of people, like, come in here and be like, are you guys totally, like, seed oil-free? And I'm, like, no, but we have a very big emphasis on using, like, healthy fats.

MORRIS: Even burger chain Steak 'n Shake is switching to butter and sauces and now sells bacon double cheeseburgers with fries that are cooked in beef fat or tallow, not seed oil. The disputed claims about soy, corn and sunflower oil have reached all the way to the sunflower farm that Cameron Peirce operates in Central Kansas.

CAMERON PEIRCE: I mean, my own kids - my son just walked through here, and I'll use him as an example. He goes - two, three months ago, he said, seed oils are bad for you. And I'm, like (laughter) - I'm like, well, scientifically, they're not. He's getting it from social media.

MORRIS: Peirce says those TikTok posts are a real threat to the business. Farmer Tim Mickelson feels the same. He grows canola, another seed oil crop in North Dakota, and says losing money over innuendo is galling to farmers who work all day, every day in the realm of empirical reality.

TIM MICKELSON: Everything we do revolves around science. So the MAHA movement, it's kind of been frustrating for me to watch because those decisions are based off of fear, speculation and information that is not backed by science.

MORRIS: Mickelson says he believes the movement has so far cut canola sales by maybe 5%. He's surprised that the anti-seed oil trend has taken hold and worries where it'll lead. Farm lobbyists say they're engaged and hope to protect farmers who grow seed oil crops.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUNFLOWER")

SWAE LEE: (Singing) You're the sunflower. You're the sunflower.

POST MALONE: (Singing) Every time I'm leaving on...

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