We scour the aisles, reading ingredients for new products daily, hoping and praying that foods won't contain the dreaded 'soy lecithin' or 'natural flavors.' By doing this, we've learned that the Coca Cola Company Co. is not our friend. We think, "nobody knows the dangers of soy and how many people (gluten-free people included), can't eat soy." Yet we never do anything about it. Well someone did and she's not even allergic to it.
Sarah Kavanagh had the determination to follow her gut; she setup a free petition on Change.org to remove brominated vegetable oil from citrus Gatorade and received over 200,000 supporters. It became one of the most popular petitions on the website and forced the CEOs of Coca Cola Co. to pay attention. Why? Because of its toxicity and ill health effects, brominated vegetable oil is already banned in the European Union and Japan, yet it is in 10% of beverages in the US. It comes from corn and soy (two very popular sources of GMOs) and is a compound that shares chemical characteristics with bromine, a flame retardant. This last fact outraged consumers enough to sign, share, link and buzz the petition all over the internet. Ingredient changes will take a few months, so as always, its important to read the label.
This gets me thinking, if we passed around a petition in the food allergy community would we get enough support to create change or would the flame of hope just fizzle and slowly go out due to the lack of soy allergy people? The sad fact that we have learned while living with nut allergy or allergy to soy is that if someone is not personally affected, they could care less. Yet, this should not stop anyone from trying to do something about something that needs to be done. Sure, it might not happen, but what chance do you have if you don't even try? If companies see how many potential customers they will lose, they will protect their bottom line. Unfortunately, it all comes down to money; the more money the cause has potential to bring to them, the more likely it will happen.
Oh, on another note, I have a new salty snack for those of you who like sushi! I usually get my seaweed (aka 'nori') from Korean or Asian markets, but this one is a great value. Kirkland Signature Seasoned Seaweed Winter Harvest. The ingredients are seaweed, corn oil, grapeseed oil and sea salt! I love these when I'm having a potato chip craving or just need something salty. They cost only about eight bucks at your neighborhood Costco!
If you like guacamole and convenience, Wholly Guacamole which I bought at Pathmark is soy-free and nut-free. If you like to make your own and favor Organic, you can buy the Simply Guacomole mix here through Amazon.
I got addicted to the Popcorners chips in Caramel when I flew Jet Blue back in December with my mom. They basically taste like caramel popcorn or kettle corn, yet they are just the right amount of salty and sweet. The ingredients are nut-free and soy-free, but it does say 'natural flavors' in the ingredients. I have not had any reaction so I don't believe there is soy but you will have to call the company to confirm.
Here is a link to that:
I also purchased Organic Flax Paks Milled Flax Seeds for when I forget (or am not in the mood) to take my oil; I take two packets in a day. They come in little convenient packets which I carry in my purse and sprinkle all over my food and cereals. You can also blenderize it into smoothies. It contains all the benefits I speak about in one of my articles including omega 3, omega 6 and lignans. Once again, if you are allergic to linseed, do not try this product.
I hope everyone is having a Happy Friday! Til we meet again...
Will it someday be possible to buy fizzy drinks at regular grocery stores again?
Sarah Kavanagh had the determination to follow her gut; she setup a free petition on Change.org to remove brominated vegetable oil from citrus Gatorade and received over 200,000 supporters. It became one of the most popular petitions on the website and forced the CEOs of Coca Cola Co. to pay attention. Why? Because of its toxicity and ill health effects, brominated vegetable oil is already banned in the European Union and Japan, yet it is in 10% of beverages in the US. It comes from corn and soy (two very popular sources of GMOs) and is a compound that shares chemical characteristics with bromine, a flame retardant. This last fact outraged consumers enough to sign, share, link and buzz the petition all over the internet. Ingredient changes will take a few months, so as always, its important to read the label.
This gets me thinking, if we passed around a petition in the food allergy community would we get enough support to create change or would the flame of hope just fizzle and slowly go out due to the lack of soy allergy people? The sad fact that we have learned while living with nut allergy or allergy to soy is that if someone is not personally affected, they could care less. Yet, this should not stop anyone from trying to do something about something that needs to be done. Sure, it might not happen, but what chance do you have if you don't even try? If companies see how many potential customers they will lose, they will protect their bottom line. Unfortunately, it all comes down to money; the more money the cause has potential to bring to them, the more likely it will happen.
Oh, on another note, I have a new salty snack for those of you who like sushi! I usually get my seaweed (aka 'nori') from Korean or Asian markets, but this one is a great value. Kirkland Signature Seasoned Seaweed Winter Harvest. The ingredients are seaweed, corn oil, grapeseed oil and sea salt! I love these when I'm having a potato chip craving or just need something salty. They cost only about eight bucks at your neighborhood Costco!
If you like guacamole and convenience, Wholly Guacamole which I bought at Pathmark is soy-free and nut-free. If you like to make your own and favor Organic, you can buy the Simply Guacomole mix here through Amazon.
I got addicted to the Popcorners chips in Caramel when I flew Jet Blue back in December with my mom. They basically taste like caramel popcorn or kettle corn, yet they are just the right amount of salty and sweet. The ingredients are nut-free and soy-free, but it does say 'natural flavors' in the ingredients. I have not had any reaction so I don't believe there is soy but you will have to call the company to confirm.
Here is a link to that:
I also purchased Organic Flax Paks Milled Flax Seeds for when I forget (or am not in the mood) to take my oil; I take two packets in a day. They come in little convenient packets which I carry in my purse and sprinkle all over my food and cereals. You can also blenderize it into smoothies. It contains all the benefits I speak about in one of my articles including omega 3, omega 6 and lignans. Once again, if you are allergic to linseed, do not try this product.
I hope everyone is having a Happy Friday! Til we meet again...
I wish they would take Natural Flavors and other soy related junk out of products. It has gotten so bad I can't even find a safe toothpaste any longer!! The brand I was using, imported from India, the company went out of business and it no longer exists. That really shocked me. I used to buy it at my local health food store co-op but they stopped stocking it on the shelf so I had presumed not enough people were buying it. Stores do that, right? But when I tried to special order it from them, I was told the bad news. The other toothpastes they carry has either the Natural Flavors in it or the carageenan (SP?) which also makes me sick. I read carageenan is made from Red Seaweed.
ReplyDeleteSo I visited this other health food store and every toothpaste they carried had soy in it, too! Either it was Natural Flavors or glycerin or vegetable oil... They said they will try to find me another brand I can use but truthfully I don't have much hope in that.
The really sad this is the brand from India was actually REPAIRING my teeth! Why do people with allergies here in the US have to import toothpaste from a foreign country in order to get a safe brand? Don't you think there is something wrong with that?
By the way, the lady at the second health food store did not realize soy was in so many products. She did not realize it hid under so many names. And she worked there for years... She said she found it "very interesting" and that I really opened her eyes to something "new". I bet now she's going to go start looking at other products as well!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll end up making my own toothpaste, providing I can find safe ingredients to use. I did not realize glycerin was soy...just found that out a few days ago. Now I discovered its in my bar soap and in the calcium/magnesium pills. Uggh. I haven't taken any of the pills for some time as they made me feel lousy. Need to find a new brand to buy as that will be the main ingredient in my toothpaste. The brand from India had calcium in it and I think its the thing that had been helping to fix my teeth.
I think most costumers at the first (and larger) health food store must like soy as they use soybean oil in most of the in-store bakery items.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteOh, I know the frustration....unfortunately, its all about the money and how much they can cut back on spending and increase profit. I have been dealing with plenty of 'mysterious' soy reactions because I'm not as careful as you about soy in my toothpaste but there are some natural health food store brands that are safe. When I was looking for toothpaste to make my own makeup products, I found Kid's Spry Tooth Gel with Xylitol which does not seem to contain any soy--it uses cellulose gum as the thickener, which is made from tree bark and cotton fibers. I get it from Whole Foods, but you may be able to order off of Amazon. I hope that helps and thank you for stopping by!
Do you by any chance know whether or not the Kirkland Signature seaweed uses non-GMO corn oil?
ReplyDeleteNicole, great question. Honestly, I doubt it and don't trust anything to be non-GMO unless it is part of the Non-GMO Project (http://www.nongmoproject.org/)
ReplyDeleteNot sure if there are any brands that are non-GMO since most are from Asia and there is no labeling for it as of yet. We would have to call or write companies directly.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteJust found out Jayone roasted seaweed (http://www.jayone.com/en/home) is in the process of getting non-GMO certified by the Non-GMO Project. =) I think we can find their products in Whole Foods.