The latest food & recipes articles from TheMurrow. In-depth analysis and reporting on the topics that matter.
Sweetgreen’s EVOO shift started as a precise kitchen policy—then morphed into “seed oil-free” marketing. The catch: what counts as “seed oil-free” depends on the component, and oil swaps change trade-offs rather than erasing them.
The internet’s favorite kitchen rule—“use the highest smoke-point oil for high heat”—confuses visible smoke with chemical breakdown. Stability, flavor, and degradation markers tell a different story.
“UPF‑free” reads like a regulated nutrition promise—but the FDA still treats “ultra‑processed” as a concept, not a binding definition. Until that changes, the badge can mean whatever the issuer decides it means.
The viral “9%” is about what people have heard—not a medical verdict. The real trap is structural: packaged foods, restaurant fryers, and “vegetable oil” labels you can’t fully control.
On July 25, 2025, FDA and USDA launched a joint push to standardize “ultra‑processed.” Once that definition becomes official, it could ripple into guidance, procurement, school meals, and labeling—while sweeping in foods like yogurt and whole‑grains that people think of as healthy.
Chains are rewriting their fryers in public—promising “seed-oil-free” fries, sometimes all the way back to the par-fry step. But the internet’s favorite justification (smoke point) doesn’t map neatly to how oils actually break down, which changes what “better” even means.
Most people treat the range hood like a courtesy—then wonder why the air still feels “cooked.” The truth: **high fan speed** and **outdoor venting** decide whether pollution gets removed or just redistributed.
Prices dropped fast after the bird‑flu shock—but “Large” is a per‑dozen weight class, not a per‑egg promise. That gap is wrecking recipe repeatability.
Cocoa futures can collapse in days, but the chocolate you buy is priced on months-old hedges, inventory, contracts, and shelf-reset calendars. Here’s the lag that keeps bars thin and checkout totals high.
The FDA didn’t rewrite the legal definition of “artificial color.” It changed how it will enforce “no artificial colors” claims—keying them to the absence of Part 74 certified dyes, not the absence of added color.
“Fried in tallow” sounds like one simple ingredient—but in real restaurant supply chains it can mean shortenings, blends, and upstream par-frying. The difference is the whole story.
FDA and USDA are trying to lock down a single federal definition of “ultra‑processed.” What sounds like semantics could reshape guidance, labels, school meals—and which “healthy” staples get side‑eyed.
A new front‑of‑pack mark from the Non‑GMO Project claims a product is “not ultra‑processed”—but the standard is narrower than shoppers will assume. The real question isn’t the logo; it’s what the rules measure (and refuse to).
“No seed oils” reads like a guarantee—but it isn’t a regulated term, and the biggest loophole often lives upstream. The fryer may change while the fries, buns, sauces, and suppliers don’t.
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