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How a scientist is pushing to supersize research into ultra-processed foods

Kevin Hall’s research at the NIH presents an existential challenge to the food industry, but he's asking the food industry to work with him.

Hall’s work at the National Institutes of Health presents an existential challenge to the food industry, which has staked its business model for decades on developing ultra-processed meals that are cheap, easy to prepare — and let’s face it — delicious. That he was now trying to drum up interest from those same food makers in a yet-to-be-finalized program funded by an “unnamed government agency” might have seemed naive to some, but it was also a sign of his eagerness to supersize research into industrial creations like sodas and breakfast cereals — a line of inquiry he and some nutritionists consider vital for public health. Soon he found himself studying long-term metabolic adaptation in patients who competed on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” the prime time reality show that combined the game play of “Survivor” with scenes of muscled trainers screaming at morbidly obese people to do sit-ups — to see who could shed the most pounds.

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