Soyfood Industry’s Not-So-Healthy Secret
Bathing soybeans in hexane, a component of gasoline, is standard industry practice
by Sarah (Steve) Mosko, PhD
Appeared in:
- E-Magazine as “What’s Hiding in Your Veggie Burger ?”20 June 2011
- Fullerton Observer, Early May 2011, p. 10
- Surf City Voice, 09 Apr 2011
- Santa Monica Daily Press as “Soy not so healthy afterall,” 07 Apr 2011
Only non-organic soyfoods are processed with hexane
Soy-based foodstuffs like veggie burgers and nutrition bars are a source of protein and generally considered “health foods” often eaten out of a belief they are good for you.
Soyfoods also have a reputation for being produced in a more environmentally friendly or sustainable fashion than animal sources of protein.
However, whether foods containing highly processed forms of soy protein are really good for people or the environment is brought into question by a Nov. 2010 report from the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based non-profit claiming that non-organic soy protein is commonly extracted from the soybeans by literally bathing the beans in n-hexane, a chemical by-product of petroleum refining.
Even popular brands of nutrition bars, veggie burgers and other meat alternatives marketed as “natural” are often guilty of this practice unless they are specifically “USDA Organic.”
Posted by Sarah (Steve) Mosko 
Boogie Green 