Baking & Snack - July 2004 - 107

July 2004

Soy-sational Eats
BY MEYER SOSLAND
ore Americans are incorporating
soy foods into their diet. As such,
soy has become increasingly important as an ingredient and as a tool for
marketing the healthfulness of foods. Soy
has many recognized health benefits from
cancer prevention to increasing bone density to relieving menopausal symptoms.
However, the only Food and Drug Administration-approved health claim that
products containing soy protein can make
at this time is in regard to the reduced
risk of heart disease. FDA concluded that
eating 25 g of soy protein per day may
reduce the risk of heart disease, if part of
a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol;
therefore, foods that have one-quarter of
this amount, or 6.25 g per serving, can
make a health claim on its packaging. Still
pending at FDA is a claim involving soy's
ability to reduce the risk of cancer.
The popularity of low-carb, high-protein diets has led also to soy flour and soy
proteins being added to many grain-based
foods. Soy protein possesses a notable ability to satiate, thus helping in weight management by controlling hunger.
Soy is available in many forms from soy
protein isolates to roasted soybeans. It is being added to an increasing variety of foods
including cereals, pastas, snack items and
bread, so that food companies can market
the benefits of soy and their products.
Flowers Foods Bakeries Group, Thomasville, GA, recently introduced Nature's
Own Wheat 'n Soy bread in the Southeast,
Southwest and Mid-Atlantic states. The
bread features 4.3 g of soy protein per slice.
"Many health-conscious consumers are
looking for an easy and tasty way to add
soy to their diet,"
said Janice Anderson, vice-president
of marketing for
Flowers
Bakeries
Group. "In the past,
they've had to turn
to less mainstream
foods, like tofu or soy
nuts. Now they can go
to the bread aisle of
their supermarket and

find soy in a familiar food like bread."
She noted that the soy protein found in
Nature's Own Wheat 'n Soy is the same beneficial protein researchers have linked to a
reduced risk of heart disease. "Wheat 'n Soy
may have one of the highest grams of soy
per slice compared with other similar commercially produced
breads," Ms. Anderson said.
"In addition, this bread is an
excellent source of calcium, is
low in cholesterol and, like all
Nature's Own breads, contains
no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors or trans fats."
The Hain Celestial Group,
Inc., Melville, NY, manufactures
and markets a variety of food
brands and lines that particularly
emphasize their status as "natural
products." It recently developed
a new Carb Fit line that uses
soy protein concentrate as a primary
ingredient.
Carb Fit Pasta, marketed under the
DeBoles brand name, comes in four
varieties: penne, spaghetti, rotini and
elbows. It is available in 8-oz boxes. Soy
concentrate and soy flour are the top two
ingredients in the pasta, yet the word soy
does not figure prominently as a graphic
on the packaging. Instead, the boxes
declare that the pasta contains only 8 g
of net carbs per half-cup serving. The
company uses the net-carb equation of
subtracting dietary fiber content from the
total carbohydrates.
Hain PureSnax Carb Fit Twirls Crispy
Soy Snacks' main ingredient is soy protein
concentrate. The ingredient statement also lists defatted soy flour.
The new twirls, which are available
in nacho cheese and cool ranch flavors, come in 1-oz and 4-oz bags
and have 5 g of net carbs per serving. Hain PureSnax also markets
Salted and Red Hot Soy Nuts
under the Carb Fit label.
Hain Celestial's Health Valley
brand offers Heart Wise cereal,
which prominently displays the
product's soy protein content

inside a large red heart on the front of the
box. The front of the box also states that the
cereal contains 6.25 g of protein from soy,
which qualifies it for the FDA-approved
health claim.
Go Lean Crunch! cereal from Kashi Co.,
La Jolla, CA, is made with textured soy
protein concentrate and contains the necessary 6.25 g of soy protein per 53-g serving
to make the approved health claim.
Protein Plus brand cereal, distributed
by Benefit Nutrition a division of Miracle
Foods, Ridgewood, NJ, prominently displays that the product is made with soy. At
12 g of protein per serving, the cereal is 30%

July 2004 / BAKING & SNACK / 107

Baking & Snack - July 2004

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