Kevin Hall Leaving NIH, Cites Food Addiction Narratives

The author of some of the most compelling scientific research on ultra-processed foods, Kevin Hall, is leaving NIH because of censorship of his science at the agency.

“I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about ultra-processed food addiction.”

Food addiction is a concept that fosters strong feelings, but scientific data to back it up has been sketchy. Nonetheless, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., promotes the idea that ultra-processed foods are poisoning us. Describing Kennedy’s narrative, the Wall Street Journal wrote, “Kennedy has said food companies use scientists to devise new chemicals to make food more addictive.”

Issues with the Food Addiction Narrative

In March, Hall and colleagues published a study in Cell Metabolism and concluded:

“The etiology of common obesity is more complex than dopamine-mediated ultra-processed food addiction, and the neurochemistry associated with excess adiposity, such as increased dopamine tone, is not analogous to a state of drug tolerance.”

This apparently did not fit well enough with Kennedy’s narrative that ultra-processed foods are “poisoning” Americans because they are addictive and full of chemicals that harm us.

So NIH refused to allow him to talk with the New York Times about his study, allowing only written questions. And then, without his permission, the NIH press office altered his responses to downplay the study’s findings.

Hall explains that leaving NIH came from a concern that the interference with his work might not be limited to the reporting of his work. If the politicians started trying to control the actual research, he said, “that would make me hate my job every day.

Make no mistake about it. With distinguished scientists like Kevin Hall leaving NIH, this epic research institution is heading for a disastrous decline. Presuming that science must confirm a political bias will destroy the world’s best health research institution.

Click here for Hall’s post describing his decision to leave NIH, here, here, and here for further reporting on it.

Taco Bell at Night, photograph by Anthony92931, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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April 17, 2025