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specifications and monitoring procedures before granting GRAS status for food. These were never performed. To this day, use of soy protein is codified as GRAS only for this limited industrial use as a cardboard binder. This means that soy pro- tein must be subject to premarket approval procedures each time manufacturers intend to use it as a food or add it to a food. Soy protein was introduced into infant formula in the early 1960s. It was a new product with no history of any use at all. As soy protein did not have GRAS status, premarket approval was required. This was not and still has not been granted. The key ingredient of soy infant formula is not recognised as safe. article, "Doubts Cloud Rosy News on Soy", contains the following alarming statement: "Not one of the 18 scientists interviewed for this column was willing to say that tak- ing isoflavones was risk free." Ms Burros did not enumerate the risks, nor did she mention that the recommended 25 daily grams of soy protein contains enough isoflavones to cause problems in sensitive individuals; but it was evident that the industry had recognised the need to cover itself. Because the industry is extremely exposed...contingency lawyers will soon discover that the number of potential plain- tiffs can be counted in the millions and the pockets are very, very deep. Juries will hear something like this: "The industry has known for years that soy contains many toxins. At first they told the public that the toxins were removed by processing. When it became apparent that processing could not get rid of them, they claimed that these substances were beneficial. Your govern- ment granted a health claim to a substance that is poisonous, and the industry lied to the public to sell more soy." The "industry" includes merchants, man- ufacturers, scientists, publicists, bureau- crats, former bond financiers, food writers, vitamin companies and retail stores. Farmers will probably escape because they were duped like the rest of us. But they need to find something else to grow before the soy bubble bursts and the market col- lapses: grass-fed livestock, designer veg- etables...or hemp to make paper for thou- sands and thousands of legal briefs. oo Editor's Note: The list of endnotes is so extensive that we have decided to save space and refer interested readers to our website at www.nexusmagazine.com. Readers without Internet access can request a faxed printout of the endnotes from our Australian office. About the Authors: Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (1999, 2nd edition, New Trends Publishing, tel +1 877 707 1776 or +1 219 268 2601) and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Washington, DC (www.WestonAPrice.org). Mary G. Enig, PhD, is the author of Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol (2000, Bethesda Press, www.BethesdaPress.com), is President of the Maryland Nutritionists Association and Vice President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Washington, DC. The authors wish to thank Mike Fitzpatrick, PhD, and Valerie and Richard James for their help in preparing this article. THE NEXT ASBESTOS? "Against the backdrop of widespread praise...there is growing suspicion that soy—despite its undisputed benefits—may pose some health hazards," writes Marian Burros, a leading food writer for the New York Times. More than any other writer, Ms Burros's endorsement of a low-fat, largely vegetarian diet has herded Americans into supermarket aisles featur- ing soy foods. Yet her January 26, 2000 86 = NEXUS APRIL —- MAY 2000 Tragedy and Hype: The Third International Soy Symposium