Soy Burger With a Side of Toxin?
Vegetarian burger lovers, take note. Your tasty patty may come with an unwanted condiment: Hexane.
Many popular brands of soy-based vegetarian foods, such as Morningstar Farms, Trader Joes, Amy's Kitchen, Boca Burger, Yves and others, may include a decidedly un-green petroleum byproduct of gasoline refining, Mother Jones magazine reports.
In an effort to produce lower fat products for health conscious consumers, soy-based faux meat manufacturers use hexane, an EPA-labeled air pollutant and neurotoxin, to separate the oil from the protein, according to a report by the Wisconsin-based agricultural non-profit the Cornucopia Institute.
"If a non-organic product contains a soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, or texturized vegetable protein, you can be pretty sure it was made using soy beans that were made with hexane," Cornucopia Institute senior researcher Charlotte Vallaeys told Mother Jones.
The FDA does not set a maximum residue level in soy foods for hexane, and does not require that food manufacturers test for hexane residues, according to the report.
The effects of consuming foods that contain hexane-extracted ingredients are not known. However, chronic and long-term and exposure to hexane in the air (such as in factories producing certain glues and solvents) is associated with numbness in the extremities, muscular weakness, blurred vision, headache, and fatigue observed, according to the EPA.
Not all soy products contain hexane, however. Helen's Kitchen, Tofurky, Turtle Island and Wildwood are among the brands that do not use hexane. Morningstar Farms and Boca Burgers have hexane-free products as well. Look for the label that says "made with organic soy."
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. Many popular brands of soy-based vegetarian foods, such as Morningstar Farms, Trader Joes, Amy's Kitchen, Boca Burger, Yves and others, may include a decidedly un-green petroleum byproduct of gasoline refining, Mother Jones magazine reports.
In an effort to produce lower fat products for health conscious consumers, soy-based faux meat manufacturers use hexane, an EPA-labeled air pollutant and neurotoxin, to separate the oil from the protein, according to a report by the Wisconsin-based agricultural non-profit the Cornucopia Institute.
"If a non-organic product contains a soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, or texturized vegetable protein, you can be pretty sure it was made using soy beans that were made with hexane," Cornucopia Institute senior researcher Charlotte Vallaeys told Mother Jones.
The FDA does not set a maximum residue level in soy foods for hexane, and does not require that food manufacturers test for hexane residues, according to the report.
The effects of consuming foods that contain hexane-extracted ingredients are not known. However, chronic and long-term and exposure to hexane in the air (such as in factories producing certain glues and solvents) is associated with numbness in the extremities, muscular weakness, blurred vision, headache, and fatigue observed, according to the EPA.
Not all soy products contain hexane, however. Helen's Kitchen, Tofurky, Turtle Island and Wildwood are among the brands that do not use hexane. Morningstar Farms and Boca Burgers have hexane-free products as well. Look for the label that says "made with organic soy."
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Second, fat phobia is a real health problem in the USA. We need fats for our health, and a significant amount of them. Big agrabiz pushed corn on this country with its toxic corn oil, high frustose corn syrup, etc. Organic and raw fats are healthy in the form of butter, coconut oil, cold pressed olive oil. Depriving ourselves of necessary fats can starve our cells causing illness. Countries like France or cultures that rely on coconut oil do not suffer heart disease like the USA.
As with everything under a capitalist economy, the profit motive is worshipped to the detriment of all humanistic values. If you can grow cheap corn, make cheap oils, that is all that counts. Human health be damned! Even labelled organic products have to be scrutinized for honesty. Just read an article last week about organic olive oil that is imported from Italy. There are no, or little controls over there and often oil is not organic and is mixed with other other oils. This is not tested or verified by the USDA or any other agency here. There is no will to do this and so monies are not spent to hire enough inspectors or to do the real research/testing on products. So, we, the people, need to take the responsibility to try and investigate what we eat. Obviously, the healthiest and surest way to protect our health is with whole foods that are grown locally where we can visit the farms to see what the growing protocol is. Prohibitive for many to do so there is a dilemma here. Growing your own food organically is desirable for all who live with a patch of ground around them. Again city folk are limited here. But farmers markets that set up weekly in cities is a big attraction for people who want fresher and more local produce. People need to push for this. And cooking food from scratch so you know what you are eating is a strategy being revived. Amazing that eating real food that we personally cook is a new idea for so many. This is how far we have been removed from anything real or natural.
To celebrate vegetarianism, I've created the meaty carrot....ground beef in the shape of a carrot...that's how stupid veggie burgers are.
texturized vegetable protein ? fake meat and faux fur