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Soy, Sanitation and Food Poisoning July 28, 2010
Fears about salmonella poisoning, listeria, swine and avian flus from animal foods are boosting the market for soy and other vegan foodstuffs and supplements. The demand is being fed by vegans, of course, but also from increasing numbers of omnivores who’ve been convinced that plant foods are the best way to avoid food poisoning. The safest and most sanitary foods of all, according to this line of thinking are processed and packaged goods,
Market analyst Kathie Brownlie reveals in the online newsletterNutraIngredients “the market is driven by crises – and it did not exist a decade ago.” Another factor in this new and booming market is the widely perceived “healthy” image of vegan ingredients. According to Chris Olivant of the UK’s Vegetarian Society, the numbers of vegetarians have steadily increased over the past decade, but “tend to peak in the immediate aftermath of a animal health scare, then drop back down to prior levels afterwards.”
“If you have a complete portfolio of vegetarian ingredients, you will be prepared for any animal health-scare that breaks,” says Lukas Christian, global product manager for beta-carotene at DSM Nutritional Products. NutraIngredients reports that DSM is launching a new synthetic beta carotene to compete against animal-derived beta carotenes. Other companies too, including BASF and Biodar have come out with vegetarian beta-carotenes. If you naively thought beta carotene supplements would come from carrots and other vegetables, welcome to the brave new world of supplements . Why grow carrots, after all, when you can produce beta carotene with microorganisms? And why bother with the care and feeding of wee beasties when you can manufacture a synthetic beta carotene that can be billed as vegetarian?
Given all the vegan scare stories and the filthy reality of factory-farming operations, it’s
hardly news that people in record numbers are avoiding meat, milk and eggs, but is it wise to go vegan for safety reasons? Not if we patronize local farmers who raise healthy, happy, free-range and pastured animals and make it a priority to run clean operations. And also not if it’s diseases from listeria, e coli and salmonella that we are trying to avoid. Most cases come from contaminated commercial vegetables, strawberries, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, peppers etc, and not animal foods at all. As for soy, there are surprising risks of contamination. Packaged soy products seem aseptic, safe and sanitary, but recalls have been legion over the years, suggesting that the squeaky clean packaging might only seal in the disease.
LARGEST RECALL IN FDA HISTORY
Consider what may prove to be the largest recall in FDA history. It occurred in March 2010 and involved salmonella-contaminated hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) produced by Basic Food Flavors Inc of Las Vegas, Nevada. Salmonella was found on the company’s processing equipment. HVP is used to enhance flavors of thousands of food products, extend shelf life, and otherwise increase the food industry’s bottom line. HVP is an ingredient in just about every processed food available in stores. As a paste or powder, it is added to soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, snack foods, dips and dressings. The name hydrolyzed vegetable protein most often refers to “hydrolyzed corn protein” or “hydrolyzed soy protein” and may sometimes be labeled as such. If mixed with spices, it is routinely identified only as “natural smoke flavor” or “natural flavors.” This labeling practice protects proprietary recipes of manufacturers, but has long been a nightmare for people who are allergic to soy or corn, or who react to MSG, which is an inevitable and unavoidable byproduct of the hydrolyzing process. Products containing this additive may even state “No MSG” on the label, though this is clearly an untruth.
This particular recall has proved embarrassing to the FDA. Congressional investigators chided the agency for failing to oversee the production of HVP and other additives and food ingredients that are widely perceived as safe. In addition to HVP, these include partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, salt, spices, artificial flavors, emulsifiers, binders, vitamins, minerals, preservatives and other ingredients, most of which are intended to enhance taste, texture, nutritional content or shelf life. In a prepared statement, FDA spokeswoman Rita Chappelle conceded that the FDA “agrees broadly” that its oversight of such ingredients “could be strengthened.” Given the misplaced time and effort FDA has put into harassing small farmers, it’s not surprising that it has been asleep on its real job.
Health-conscious consumers might think that this is not their issue because the companies in the news are the big names like McCormick, Pringles, National Pretzel, Herbox (boullion), Quaker, Safeway and CVS snack products. Best Food Flavors alone has recalled nearly 800 products. This would suggest the problem lies with the processed, packaged, fast and junk foods on the Standard American Diet (SAD). Sadly, the truth is that many of the brands billed as “healthy” and sold in health food stores and upscale markets use the very same additives. Follow Your Heart brand vegetarian products, for example, recalled its barbecue, kung pao, savory, peanut and curry-flavored tofus as well as its “heart smart” veggie burgers, burritos and “chicken” pasta because of possible salmonella contamination “from one of our suppliers.”
The possibility of salmonella poisoning also drove recalls of those old hippie staples soy grits and flour. The recalled items came from Thumb Oilseed Producers’ Cooperative of Ubly, Michigan, sold under the brand names Soy Beginnings and Nexsoy.
NOT HVP ALONE
Other contamination problems have also beset soy-food manufacturers. Lifesoy Inc., a San Diego-based manufacturer of ready-to-eat soy products, was forced to stop manufacturing and distributing its sweetened and unsweetened soy milk, fried tofu, fresh tofu, soybean pudding, and other products because it did not hold and store foods under refrigerated conditions cold enough to prevent the growth of microorganisms. Interesting enough when the FDA first discovered Lifesoy’s unsanitary practices in 2007 it did not harass the company (as it does small farmers and cottage industries) but actively tried to help it comply with Good Manufacturing Practices and stay in business. The company’s failure to do so led to its shut down.
The LifeSoy case indicates why most tofu products coming out of large manufacturing facilities are pasteurized today. In the good old days, there were also cases of contamination, of course, with most occurring at Asian groceries or old-fashioned small health food stores where fresh blocks of tofu were displayed in water in produce sections. The tofu was non refrigerated and open to airborne contamination as well as bugs from customers reaching into the water with tongs.
Think soy milk is safe? Bonsoy soy drink was whisked out of markets in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong this last spring because of dangerously high iodine levels derived from kombu, a seaweed ingredient. That manufacturing error sank at least 38 people’s thyroids. Ironically, the kombu was put in there to begin with because of soy’s adverse effects on the thyroid, a risk highest among consumers who are iodine deficient. Recently a reformulated version was approved for sale by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Meanwhile other products containing seaweed are being investigated.
FORMULA FOR DISASTER
One of the most frequently recalled products is infant formula. Between 1982 and 1994 there were 22 significant recalls of infant formula in the United States due to health and safety problems. Seven of these recalls were classified by the FDA as “Class I” or potentially life threatening. And things haven’t improved much since then. Recent recalls were made by Nestle (Carnation), Abbott, Mead Johnson, Wyeth, and Nutricia, among other companies, and for for widely sold products under the brand names of Alsoy, GoodStart, Isomil, Nutramigen, Nursoy, and Soylac. Both dairy and soy formulas have been recalled for everything from contamination by Salmonella or Klebsiella Pneumoniae to bits of glass. Yes, glass, as in the shards found in more than 102,000 Mead-Johnson jars.
Manufacturing errors are an especially big problem with soy formula. Failure to add supplemental B1, B12 Vitamin K, chloride and other needed supplements has led to deaths and hospitalizations of babies. When such omissions happen with dairy formula, the deficiency is less likely to be a life-threatening matter. Cow’s milk, after all, contains what a mammal needs to grow. Although obviously not at the ideal levels for a human baby as opposed to a calf, vital components don’t go missing. In 2003 three babies in Israeli on soy formula died from an extreme deficiency of vitamin B1, and another eight babies were hospitalized, of which four suffered permanent brain damage. The formula manufacturers had left out B1 on the false assumption that soybeans contain plenty of B1.
Hard to believe? Want to check out future recalls? Get industry news from a free online subscription to NutraIngredients and by visiting the FDA’s own website. Then put your energy into buying both animal and plant foods directly from small, local farmers you know, visit and trust.
Novel Approach to the Zipper Problem July 26, 2010
April was National Soyfoods Month. Given all the hype, soy must be good for something, right? Absolutely. The miracle bean would be very good indeed for politicians with the zipper problem.
The soy industry apparently agrees, because on March 17, it held a special Soyfoods Lunch on Capitol Hill for some 200 members of Congress, government officials and industry representatives. Billed as a way to showcase the “health benefits of soy,” the Eighth Annual Congressional Soyfoods Lunch may have had the side benefit of controlling Capitol Hill lust. Soy, after all, in Asia is eaten heavily in Zen monasteries to help monks maintain their vows of celibacy. It’s also featured heavily on the menu in Japanese homes where the husband has been unfaithful. Seems that wives know that soy can kill the desire, the ability, . . . or both.
As for US politicians, too bad Bill Clinton didn’t eat it. Not because it would have prevented his heart disease problems – even the American Heart Association (AHA) has backed off from its pro soy position – but because it might have downed his infamous libido. Accordingly, let’s urge Bill Clinton to admit the truth to the American public. The words I’d put in his mouth are, “If that woman and I had eaten soy, I’d have saved a lot of embarrassment to my presidency.”
Sadly, the American Soy Association(ASA) has a stereotypical pro soy message for the public. “ASA’s Congressional Soyfoods Lunch is a unique occasion for the U.S. soybean industry to provide Members of Congress and other government officials with the chance to taste the ever-expanding selection of soyfoods available today,” said ASA president Rob Joslin. Those taste treats included all sorts of fake steaks – er mis-steaks – and other soybean ingredients dressed up, brightened, flavored and textured into approximations of Thai Beef Salad, Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetable Pasta, Sautéed Broccoli in Garlic Sauce,and other pseudo pfoods.
The point of it all was for attendees to hear ASA spin doctors tout the “health benefits of soy” and learn how they could help acquaint the American public with said benefits. Sadly, the truth is another soy story, with soy linked to malnutrition, digestive distress, thyroid disorders, immune system breakdown, ADD/ADHD, even heart disease and cancer, especially breast cancer. Soy also causes or contributes to reproductive problems in both men and women, including infertility, loss of libido and other problems. The Israeli Health Ministry, French Food Agency and German Institute of Risk Assessment have all issued warnings about soy. Here in the U.S., the marketing of soy is business as usual, moving full speed ahead all year long and especially during April. Too bad the mis-information isn’t just an April Fool’s Day joke.
Interview with Caroline Sutherland, medical intuitive and author of The Body Knows October 28, 2009
Listen to the full interview (mp3 format, 9.2 MB)
Soya-based diet linked to lower sperm count July 25, 2008
Men who eat soya-based foods may be harming their fertility, doctors said yesterday, after a study found a link between soya-rich diets and lower sperm counts. The study showed men who consumed more than two portions of soya-based foods a week had, on average, 41m fewer sperm per millilitre of semen than men who had never eaten soya products. Read the full article by Ian Sample here.
Spilling the beans July 13, 2008
Toxic Health Food?
How do you adjust to the possibility your favourite health food is toxic and dangerous? On the good food website Gremolata.com, Lorette C. Luzajic writes a great article “Spilling the Beans”. Read the full article here.
Health Claim Re-evaluation December 21, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on its intent to reevaluate the scientific evidence for two previously authorized health claims (dietary lipids (fat) and cancer; soy protein and risk of coronary heart disease) and two qualified health claims that were the subject of letters of enforcement discretion (antioxidant vitamins and risk of certain cancers; selenium and certain cancers). The agency is undertaking a reevaluation of the scientific basis for these authorized health claims and qualified health claims because of new scientific evidence that has emerged for these substance-disease relationships. The new scientific evidence may have the effect of weakening the substance-disease relationship for these authorized health claims and either strengthening or weakening the scientific support for the substance-disease relationship for these qualified health claims.
DATES: Submit written or electronic comments by February 19, 2008.
More…
Health Committee Petition December 14, 2007
Read the Report of the NZ House of Representatives Health Committee on Petition 2005/123 of Valerie Ann James and 214 others, submitted with the support of SoyOnlineService.
The committee heard evidence on 17 October 2007 from Valerie Ann James, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the Ministry of Health.
“Conclusion: We support the petitioner’s request for more accurate labels on soy-based infant formula, which highlight the potential long-term risks of feeding soy-based infant formula to infants. We accept that there is evidence that soy-based formulas have a high phytoestrogen content that may pose a risk to the long-term reproductive health of infants. We acknowledge that the current labels do advise consumers to consult a doctor or health care worker for advice. However, we believe it would be prudent to supplement this advice with more specific wording which points out that the high phytoestrogen content of soy-based infant formula may pose a risk to the long term reproductive health of infants.”…
Read the full report here
Soya Supplements May Be a Health Risk: German Consumer Watchdog December 6, 2007
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) Germany, has undertaken a health assessment of isoflavone supplements. BfR found that there is a lack of evidence to confirm the safety of such supplements, yet there is some evidence to suggest that there may be health risks. Long term studies of these extracts are needed to evaluate the health implications.
Isoflavones are phyto-estrogens that may have a hormone like (estrogen) effect on the body. Isoflavones are found predominantly in soya beans (Glycine hispida max) and Red Clover (Trifloium pratense). Daidzein, genistein and glycitein are the main isofavones found in soya. Red clover is a mix of many isoflavone compounds; formononetin and biochanin A are thought to be the main ones. Isoflavones may be ingested naturally from food or as an isolated, fortified form in food supplements.
One of the main groups who are targeted by isoflavone marketing is post menopausal women. It is often claimed that such supplements can ease the symptoms of the menopause, offering an alternative to hormone replacement therapy. Other claimed advantages of the supplements are heart, bone and breast health.
After reports of adverse events relating the taking of soya / red clover supplements, BfR carried out a health assessment. This included evaluating the scientific studies published to date. The reported adverse events included itching, eczema, nausea, dizziness, abdominal pain, skin rash and sweating. Conflicting reports and a lack of long term studies make isoflavones a difficult subject to evaluate. Indeed one study found that isoflavones stimulated breast cancer cells in mice, while another found that women with a high soy diet generally have lower rates of breast cancer.
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Soya Formula for Infants Should Only Be Administered on Doctor’s Advice, Says German Consumer Safety Watchdog November 19, 2007
Infant formula and follow-up formula based on cow’s milk protein or soy protein is for sale in the European Union. Soy formula should only be administered to infants over a longer period when this is necessary on medical grounds.
Press Release — November 19, 2007 — If a mother is unable to breastfeed her baby, she can fall back on infant formula from the drug store or supermarket. Products made from soybean protein and from cow’s milk are on sale. Soybeans contain high concentrations of isoflavones. They should, therefore, only be given to infants over longer periods in exceptional, justified cases. Isoflavones are similar to the female hormone oestrogen; however, they have a far weaker effect. Furthermore, soybeans may also contain higher amounts of the plant component, phytate. Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel, President of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), comments, “Infant formula and follow-up formula made from soy protein should only be administered on medical grounds and then only under medical supervision.”
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Omnivore vs Vegan August 25, 2007
This article “Omnivore vs Vegan” was a cover story for EnergyTimes magazine. It may help you decide whether Mother Nature designed us to eat animal products or we should consider veganism “our next big evolutionary leap.” Speaking for the vegans is Hope Ferdowsian, MD, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. EnergyTimes selected me to represent the omnivores because I’m on the Board of Directors of the Weston A. Price Foundation, but did so only on the condition that I NOT speak out about soy. I agreed, expecting to be identified as the author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food. Apparently that was too much for EnergyTimes’ advertisers as the book’s entire title was eliminated from my biography.
Health food caution May 30, 2007
‘Functional Foods’ – also known as ‘nutraceuticals’ or ‘designer foods’ – must be monitored to assess long-term safety and effectiveness, say a group of scientists writing in today’s British Medical Journal. Nynke de Jong, project director at the Duth Institute and colleagues, focused on the potential risks of cholesterol lowering margarines and yoghurts. These products, he wrote, could trigger reactions in people taking statins – drugs that do the same job but act more powerfully – which might actually increase their risk of heart disease, the Dutch experts say. The margarines contain plant sterols which lower cholesterol but when eaten by people taking statins, the level of plant sterols in their blood is raised. There are concerns that this could increase the thickening of the arteries – and the risk of a heart attack – and Canada has banned the sale of these product. Download the British Medical Journal article here. Also see a related article in the NZ Hearld, 21st May 2007.
Death by Veganism May 21, 2007
When Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed 3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty.
This particular calamity — at least the third such conviction of vegan parents in four years — may be largely due to ignorance. But it should prompt frank discussion about nutrition.
I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.
Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.
Protein deficiency is one danger of a vegan diet for babies. Nutritionists used to speak of proteins as “first class” (from meat, fish, eggs and milk) and “second class” (from plants), but today this is considered denigrating to vegetarians.
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Excerpt from interview with nutritionist Larrian Gillespie, M.D. October 28, 1999
About.com Thyroid Disease site guide, Mary Shoman, has discussed the risk of soy and isoflavones to perimenopausal women with nutritionist Larrian Gillespie MD. Here is an excerpt of the interview which includes a powerful testimony of what happened to Gillespie when she tried an isoflavone supplement.
Shoman: Many women are being told to take soy products as a way to help avoid breast cancer, minimize menopausal symptoms, and lower cholesterol. But some studies are showing that excessive soy consumption — particularly when women are consuming large amounts of soy powders, isoflavone supplements, and excessive soy foods and soy milks — can damage the thyroid further. Do you have any thoughts about this for women with thyroid disease, who may be confused about whether or not they should add more soy to their diets? Do you think soy products are safe? Or how much soy in the diet, and in what forms, would you consider safe?
Gillespie: You hit the nail on the head when you said “excessive soy consumption.” I was recently in China and saw how little soy is used in the daily diet of the Chinese. We in America think we must consume the entire container of tofu in one or two days, when that is enough for a whole week! Taking 40mg of isoflavones causes hypothyroidism in susceptible women…and I mean those in transitional menopause, the new word for perimenopause. I do not recommend that women take supplements. I tried the experiment on myself and developed full blown hypothyroidism in 10 days.
Listen to the full 3 minute interview (RealPlayer format).
