KUOW⁠73%

Ask a Doctor: What are ultra-processed foods (and should we avoid them)?! ⁠28%

By Libby Denkmann⁠0% Maleeha Syed⁠0%

5/21/2026, 11:08:43 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Framing Effect, and False Dilemma, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 34.2% saturation with 76 hits. Analysis detected 607 faulty-reasoning hits from 222 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.6% and a BS Rank of ⁠28% (15,957 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 72.90% of the article peer group.

Ultra-processed foods are everywhere. 
But we aren’t supposed to eat them. 
At least, that’s the current discourse around these foods, which can include soda, instant oatmeal and sliced bread. 
Research has found that diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to diabetes, obesity, heart disease and many cancers. 
That's a hard pill to swallow, considering that roughly 70% of our grocery store products are ultra-processed, according to the Yale School of Public Health. 
So we want a little more clarity on what these foods are, how they could impact us and if it’s really so bad to snack on a granola bar (or order the occasional hot dog at a baseball game). 
Guest: Dr. 
Neelendu Dey, a gastroenterologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and associate professor of gastroenterology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. 
Related links: 
Ultra-Processed Foods Information Sheet | Yale School of Public Health 
Ultra-processed food: Five things to know | Stanford Medicine News Center 
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods? 
| Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health 
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! 
If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes 
Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 8.6%Libby Denkmann: 1.8%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias8.6%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.8%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 13.1%Libby Denkmann: 5.5%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic13.1%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.7%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.1%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.3%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 23.0%Libby Denkmann: 13.1%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect23.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.1%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 3.2%Libby Denkmann: 2.4%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias3.2%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 17.6%Libby Denkmann: 6.4%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias17.6%This article: 3.2%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias3.2%This article: 13.1%Libby Denkmann: 8.6%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias13.1%This article: 5.9%Libby Denkmann: 3.0%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias5.9%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.5%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 6.7%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 17.1%Libby Denkmann: 9.9%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect17.1%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.5%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 8.1%Libby Denkmann: 0.4%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect8.1%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 27.0%Libby Denkmann: 5.7%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority27.0%This article: 23.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.6%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma23.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 1.8%Libby Denkmann: 5.6%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization1.8%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.8%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.2%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 17.1%Libby Denkmann: 8.7%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion17.1%This article: 3.2%Libby Denkmann: 1.3%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question3.2%This article: 8.6%Libby Denkmann: 1.4%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)8.6%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 3.2%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof3.2%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.9%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 21.2%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)21.2%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.4%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 8.6%Libby Denkmann: 0.5%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote8.6%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.3%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 34.2%Libby Denkmann: 2.4%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice34.2%This article: 3.2%Libby Denkmann: 1.1%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination3.2%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.6%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 9.9%Libby Denkmann: 1.9%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…9.9%

222 words analyzed.

Speakers

5speakers31%attributed speech154writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageNeelendu Dey • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageYale School of Public Health • 10 words • 0.0% coverageStanford Medicine News Center • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageJohns Hopkins • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW • 15 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Neelendu Dey

100%flagged-word coverage
23 attributed words34% of attributed speech95% writer coverage
0%25.0%50.0%Biased Writer Voice-49.4 ptsWriter: 49.4%Neelendu Dey: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -14.3 ptsWriter: 14.3%Neelendu Dey: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-12.3 ptsWriter: 12.3%Neelendu Dey: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-4.5 ptsWriter: 4.5%Neelendu Dey: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.