Hexane ignites soy controversy

Sunday May 25, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- An investigative report by Cornucopia and Natural News has revealed that soy products touted as “organic” may not be 100% “natural.” It turns out that soy products are bathed in hexane, a gasoline by-product that is particularly volatile. Hexane based solvents are used to “bathe” soy products during processing.

In 1999, an explosion at the Indianapolis Centra Soya Plant was the result of a hexane spill. Although there were no casualties, 11 people were injured from the blast that left some people surprised at the “volatility” involved in soy processing. Four years later, hexane gas ignited at an Iowa processing plant, killing two workers.

While most people know that grain processing plants can be volatile, many do not realize that this is a direct result of the hexane used in the grain extraction process. They also do not realize that there is hexane residue in soy products at levels that have not been tested for toxicity.

A particularly disturbing find by the above mentioned investigation was that in order to be considered “organic,” only 70% of a product actually must fit that definition in order to be advertised as such. There is a 30% window that allows for hexane residue left by the extraction process.

Many health and environmental enthusiasts have been eager to jump on the “organic” trend, believing they are consuming healthier food products and are also saving the environment from certain pollutants. Lately, there have been some challenges to the idea that “organic” is always “safer.”

The current soy controversy comes on the heels of a recall of peanut butter products; an organic processing plant was found to be sending salmonella contaminated peanut butter out into the public. After further investigation, it was found that the plant in question was allowed to keep its “organic” certification status, even though it had not been subject to health inspections at required intervals (New York Times).

These types of incidents will surely have conscientious consumers rethinking whether or not they can trust the “organic” label. As one mother told the New York Times after the peanut butter scandal, “all bets are off” if the public continues to feel duped by the “organic” label.

(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)