Soy cheese products deceive consumers, violate vegans

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Soy cheese products deceive consumers, violate vegans JoAnn Guest Apr 06,

2005 12:59 PDT

Soy cheese products deceive consumers, violate vegans

http://www.newstarget.com/003217.html

 

If you visit any natural grocery or health food store these days, you'll

notice there are a lot of soy cheese products available. The implied

message from the name of these products is that they are made with soy

milk, not dairy products, and are therefore either healthier for you or

appropriate for people who wish to avoid cow's milk for health reasons.

 

But what they don't tell you is that virtually every soy cheese product

on the market is made with a dairy product. That ingredient is casein, a

milk protein.

 

 

 

It is, in fact, casein that is associated with most of the health

problems and complaints described by people who consume cow's milk and

dairy products. Those complaints include chronic sinus congestion,

constipation, and even symptoms resembling asthma. That's because casein

is a difficult protein for human beings to digest, which is why it is

present in smaller quantities in human breast milk. Cows, on the other

hand, need casein in larger quantities. The nutritional makeup of cow's

milk is vastly different from human milk, which makes it even more

bizarre that human beings insist on consuming this beverage produced by

members of an entirely different species.

 

Casein is probably used in soy cheese products because it helps those

resemble the taste of real cheese. It also has a quality that helps soy

cheese products physically resemble dairy products, and it adds protein

content to the cheese. Soy cheese manufacturers get away with adding

casein to their products primarily because most consumers don't know

what casein really is, and there's no attempt by soy cheese

manufacturers to state on the product label that these products contain

ingredients derived from cows.

 

Therein lies the deception: soy cheese products are positioned as

alternatives to dairy cheese, and yet they continue to be made with

precisely the most nutritionally offensive ingredient found in cow's

milk: casein protein.

 

And it's not just one company doing this -- even Trader Joe's, a natural

grocer that offers a wide variety of healthy products, puts casein in

their soy cheese products. A company called Galaxy Nutritional Foods,

which makes " Veggie Slices, " puts casein in their soy cheese as well.

The front label of their package even says " Nature's Alternative to

Cheese, " and it describes the product as " made with the goodness of

soy. " But my question is that if this is a cheese alternative, what is a

milk protein doing in the product? Granted, at least Galaxy Nutritional

Foods explains what casein is in their ingredients list. It reads

" casein (a dried skim milk protein) " . So, there is some attempt on their

part to educate consumers about what's in the product, but still, it's

made with a milk protein derived from cows, and most people don't read

the ingredients to begin with.

 

If you're into health food products, you can verify all this yourself.

Visit any natural grocer or health food store and look at any veggie

cheese or soy cheese product on the shelf. You will find that virtually

all of them are manufactured with cow's milk protein. This just goes to

show you that just because a food product is positioned as being an

alternative to dairy products, or just because it is described as being

a soy product, doesn't mean that it is free of animal products. This is

especially important for vegans, of course, who are increasingly finding

that it's difficult to buy any product that isn't made with animal

products in one way or another. Even yogurt, you may recall, is colored

with an insect-derived natural coloring called carmine, which is made

from ground-up, red Cochineal beetles frequently imported from the

Canary Islands.

 

But where carmine is probably good for you, I don't think casein is.

Milk proteins are not something that human beings should be consuming on

a regular basis, especially not adult human beings. Think about it -- if

adults of the human species were supposed to be consuming cow's milk, or

casein protein, then this protein would be present in much greater

quantities in human breast milk, and we would all continue nursing as

adults. And yet that's not the case -- adults are supposed to stop

drinking mother's milk. And certainly adult humans are not supposed to

be drinking the mother's milk from a four-legged, furry animal. From

nature's point of view, it doesn't make any sense at all; in fact, it's

rather bizarre. Repulsive, if you ask me.

 

The next time you go out and shop for natural foods, make sure you start

reading the labels. Aside from casein, you'll also find that many

so-called " natural " food products contain MSG in the form of yeast

extract, another deceptive ingredient used in many natural foods. These

include all the popular " meatless " brands you see at the health food

stores. It's virtually impossible to find a vegetarian burger that

doesn't contain MSG in one form or another. So much for the " natural "

claim, huh?

 

Folks, it's not just the big mainstream food companies that are

deceptive in their marketing. Sadly, it's also a bunch of " natural " food

companies who have jumped on the health hype bandwagon and are using

what I consider to be deceptive product claims and positioning

statements that deceive consumers. If you actually believe what the food

labels claim, you're gullible. You have to read the ingredients and

learn to know the difference between natural ingredients vs. chemical

additives like " autolyzed yeast extract " or " hydrolyzed vegetable

protein. " Believe it or not, companies can even put MSG in a product and

call it " natural flavors. " I'm not kidding. (Search Google for Dr.

Russell Blaylock or " excitotoxins " to learn more about the disastrous

health effects of MSG...)

 

The food companies have learned that they can slap the word " natural " on

any product and more people will buy it, even if there's nothing natural

about it. I've seen potato chip companies say their products are

natural, and that's absurd, because you don't find deep-fried potato

chip slices containing trans-fatty acids and acrylamides growing on

bushes in nature, so it's not natural, but food manufacturers are

certainly allowed to put the word " natural " on the label according to

the FDA. Your job as a consumer is to educate yourself so you aren't

deceived by bogus product health claims.

 

In my opinion, a natural product is a kind of product that you might

find in nature. Whole tomatoes are natural products, and you could even

argue that taco sauce made with ground-up whole tomatoes and natural

spices derived from plants is a natural product, but if you start adding

chemical taste enhancers like monosodium glutamate, or preservatives,

additives, artificial colors, refined sugars and so on, it's not natural

at all. Be wary of this term. The Corn Refiner's Association of America

even told me in an e-mail that they believe high-fructose corn syrup is

natural -- why? Because it's derived from corn! Here's a highly-refined,

processed sugar, linked to obesity and diabetes, that the industry

insists is a natural product.

 

If they can call that natural, and if the food giants can call their

deep-fried potato chips natural, and if soy cheese manufacturers can put

cow's milk products in their soy products and call them natural, then

there's really no meaning to the term.

 

Technically speaking, I could dig up some mercury, lead, arsenic and

other toxic substances from the soil, stuff them into a tofu recipe, and

sell it as a " 100% natural " product. Why? Because it's all derived from

the Earth! It's natural, see?

 

That's why the word " natural " is, essentially, a marketing term for

suckers. Its only purpose is to sell products to people who flat out

don't know any better. (And by the way, I've learned from talking to so

many readers of this site that YOU know better. The readers of this site

are really quite well informed and they tend to read labels. It's all

the other people you see in the stores -- those typical shoppers -- who

are the suckers.)

 

I have an entire book nearly completed on topics such as this. The

working name of the book is, " Health Seduction, " and it's about how food

companies, cosmetic companies, drug companies and hospitals use

deceptive, seductive language to trick consumers into buying needless

products and services, all while claiming, " It's good for you! " Watch

for it on the TruthPublishing.com website. Sign up to the NewsTarget

Insider email newsletter and you'll get an email when this book is

released.

 

In the mean time, be a smart shopper. Read the labels and don't trust

" natural " products until you verify they are, indeed, made with

wholesome ingredients and no chemical additives.

 

One final clarification on all this: I am not an opponent of soy

products. In fact, I consume all sorts of soy products myself: soy milk,

soy protein and tofu. I think soy is a genuine superfood, and recent

research has shown that it helps prevent prostate cancer in men, breast

cancer in women, and free radical damage. I'm fully aware that there are

differing opinions on soy in the natural health community, and I remain

open to any new information on the safety and efficacy of soy as it

becomes available.

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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