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¢ Cross-contamination occurs. _ the industrial products that may be green Improperly cleaned pans, plates, utensils for the environment but deadly for highly and cutting boards at restaurant or delis, allergic persons. bins at health food stores or vats at the fac- * Kiss with care. Finally, someone who tory can contaminate food with traces of is exquisitely sensitive to soy could die soy. All it takes is a bit of old soy oil or from contact with the lips of someone who soy protein residue to trigger severe reac- has just eaten soy. Unlikely as this might tions in people who are highly susceptible. —_ seem, it has happened with peanuts, soy's + Soy may be in the package as well as eyen more allergenic relative. oo its contents. Soy protein isolate used in the manufacture of paperboard boxes can About the Author: flake off and migrate into food. Inthe aayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, is the future, some foods may be shrink-wrapped author of The Whole Soy Story: The in an edible soy-based plastic. Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health * Soy can be breathed in as well as Food (NewTrends Publishing, 2004). She eaten. Expect soy dust in some bakeries jg a board-certified clinical nutritionist and shipyards, and in the bulk bin aisle of and a health educator who teaches class- your health food store. es and workshops on disease prevention, + Soy may be in your pills. Vitamins, _gptimum health and maximum longevity. over-the-counter drugs and prescriptions Dr Daniel can be reached through her may contain an unwanted dose of soy. website, http://)www.wholesoystory.com. Beware of pills with soy oil bases, vitamin E derived from soy oil, and soy compo- Editor's Note: nents such as isoflavones. The inhaler Due to space constraints, we are unable Atrovent is just one of many pharmaceuti- to publish the endnotes for this article. cal products containing unexpected soy. Interested readers can see them at our + Soy is the latest thing in just about — website, http://www.nexusmagazine.com, everything. Soy inks, paints, plastics, car- or request a copy of them from any pets, mattresses, cars, etc. are just a few of NEXUS Office. the industrial products that may be green for the environment but deadly for highly allergic persons. ¢ Kiss with care. Finally, someone who is exquisitely sensitive to soy could die from contact with the lips of someone who has just eaten soy. Unlikely as this might seem, it has happened with peanuts, soy's even more allergenic relative. oo * Soy goes by many aliases. Food processors are less likely to list the three- letter word "soy" than a technical term such as "textured vegetable protein (TVP), "textured plant protein", "hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP)", "vegetable protein concentrate", "vegetable oil" or "MSG (monosodium _ glutamate)". Ingredient lists also include words such as "lecithin", "vegetable oil", "vegetable broth", "bouillon", "natural flavour" or "mono-diglyceride" that do not necessarily, but are likely to, come from soy. ¢ Food labels and ingredient lists change. Check them every single time. Manufacturers can switch the ingredients used in food products without warning. Allergic consumers need to check the labels every time they make a purchase and ask about ingredients every time they eat at a restaurant or purchase food at a deli. To make things easier, many allergic people carry cards listing foods on their "no" lists. ¢ Products may be mislabelled or con- tain undeclared soy. The only solution here is to hope and pray, and make your own food from scratch using known ingredients. NEXUS + 79 The Hidden Dangers of Soy Allergens Continued from page 30 AUGUST — SEPTEMBER 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com