A Meals Scientist Debunks 3 Widespread Meals Myths From 2025

The power to share data on-line is a blessing and a curse. It helps hold us linked throughout lengthy distances and is usually a nice supply of recent concepts, however it could possibly additionally unfold inaccurate assertions like wildfire.

In 2025, we debunked a number of myths which have change into widespread in modern meals tradition, starting from the frequent social media declare that beef tallow can be utilized for skincare to the query of whether or not you may prepare dinner a steak in a dishwasher. Once we did not have the reply, we turned to professional sources to search out out what’s (and is not) true.

An essential a part of studying about meals and cooking is being open to unlearning, too. (For instance, I just lately switched the best way I retailer bread after greater than a decade of retaining it in my fridge, because of recommendation from well-known baker Paul Hollywood.) To start out 2026 on a extra knowledgeable foot, we requested meals scientist and educator Abbey Thiel, PhD, what among the commonest meals myths she encountered this 12 months have been — and why we shouldn’t purchase into them.

Fable: Natural produce signifies that no pesticide or fungicide sprays have been used

With labels which can be truly regulated by the USDA or FDA and advertising and marketing phrases which can be far much less significant than they sound, it may be tough to maintain monitor of the precise definition of each identifier you see on the grocery retailer. It’s simple to see why many customers might consider that natural produce was cultivated with out the usage of any pesticide or fungicide sprays, however as Thiel factors out, that’s not the case.

The meals scientist explains that “This can be a quite common misunderstanding, and it’s not correct. Natural farming does permit the usage of pesticides and fungicides. The distinction will not be whether or not sprays are used, however which of them are allowed and the way they’re regulated. Natural techniques prohibit farmers to a particular checklist of accepted substances, lots of that are derived from pure sources. Examples embody copper-based fungicides, sulfur, neem oil, spinosad, and microbial merchandise like Bacillus thuringiensis.”

Using substances like these in agriculture in the end advantages us. They’re used to handle bugs, fungi, and plant illnesses that might in any other case destroy crops, and Thiel emphasizes that “With out some type of pest administration, natural yields could be extraordinarily low and meals costs could be a lot increased.” 

Fable: You shouldn’t eat something you may’t pronounce

Amid rising considerations concerning the risks of ultra-processed meals (UPFs), dwelling cooks are paying nearer consideration to the ingredient lists on the meals and drinks they purchase. This scrutiny is very evident on social media: scroll via health-focused content material, and also you’re prone to encounter movies of individuals studying ingredient lists aloud, implying that unfamiliar or complicated-sounding phrases mechanically sign a UPF.

That is an comprehensible assumption, however Thiel notes that “it’s a horrible option to choose whether or not meals is secure or wholesome to eat. The power to pronounce a phrase has nothing to do with whether or not a substance is harmful or synthetic. Often, it comes down as to whether the identify comes from chemistry, biology, or advertising and marketing. Scientists identify molecules exactly so we all know precisely what they’re. That precision usually makes the phrases longer. 

“For instance, 1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol is solely vitamin D in its biologically energetic kind. The lengthy identify describes its chemical construction and its conduct within the physique. Calling it ‘vitamin D’ is handy. Calling it by its chemical identify is correct.”

Vitamin D is way from the one instance of this. Thiel additionally explains that ascorbic acid is vitamin C, sodium chloride is desk salt, and dihydrogen monoxide is water. In response to the meals scientist, “If we adopted the ‘can’t pronounce it’ rule strictly, we might get rid of among the most elementary and important parts of our eating regimen.” 

Fable: Margarine is one molecule away from being plastic

Whereas this isn’t a brand new fable, it’s one Thiel continues to see perpetuated on-line — and it’s a false impression you’ll usually see crop up in social media feedback. Over the a long time, this falsehood has been sustained by forces together with the dairy business’s lobbying towards margarine and, as we speak, fears of UPFs.

Thiel tells us that “this concept has circulated on-line for years as a result of it sounds scientific and alarming, however it falls aside when you have a look at how molecules truly work. Saying margarine is ‘one molecule away from plastic’ is like saying water is one molecule away from hydrogen peroxide or that desk salt is one factor away from chlorine fuel. 

“Small chemical variations can utterly change how a substance behaves. In chemistry, construction determines operate. Our our bodies clearly acknowledge that distinction. We have now enzymes that digest dietary fat, together with margarine, and use them for power and mobile operate… Nobody is absorbing plastic after they eat margarine. Margarine will not be plastic. It doesn’t behave like plastic, and it’s not chemically near plastic in any significant scientific manner. The phrase is catchy, however it misrepresents how chemistry and meals science truly work.”

Each butter and margarine have their place within the meals world, and whereas this fable might search to demonize the latter, margarine is a beneficial ingredient for a lot of households. When you purchase margarine as a result of it’s extra inexpensive, you may’t eat dairy, it tastes higher, or your physician recommends it, then relaxation assured that you simply don’t want to fret about this fiction.