Calling food producers about ingredients . .

[Marsha]

My husband and I emailed the people who produce MoonRose soymilk, and you have to read his response. It's hilarious. I'll be emailing him back later today . . . he calls me Mr Brown because the email comes from our joint email . . .


Mr. Brown, to be completely honest with you, I do not know the answer to your question, but certainly, in your case, it is certainly good for you. It is a very interesting question. I'll try to give you the best answer I can.
The product starts with the beans. First, we have the farmers put that special fertilizer on our fields called Love, and that has to help. The product does use Organic and Non-GMO beans, so, it is possible that you have some sort of allergy to products used in non-Natural farming methods. I have not run across any journal articles about allergies to Herbicides and Pesticides, but a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I worked in a laboratory that specialized in the analysis of H&P. My boss there lives next door to my parents, and I will be over at their house tomorrow, so, I'll have to have another interesting chat with Dr. Koski. H&P are obviously designed and tested on and for plants and bugs, but, like any chemical, probably has some interaction with the human metabolism in ever so such a slight manner. I'll ask him a few tough questions and see if I can get some dirt on H&P.

We use Organic Evaporated Cane Juice in the product as well. This is basically the same as table sugar, however, it is a less-refined product, and the Sulfurization step is not used in the manufacturing of this product. You may want to try using Evaporated Cane Juice around the house, rather than White Sugar. Try it out, and you may find a difference. In most applications, they taste the same.

We use All-Natural flavors, and they are derived from inherently organic(not certified, but process-checked) Vanilla beans, and plant sources. While not all Artificial Flavors come from Petroleum products, some do. Do not try this at home, but I'm sure drinking a barrel of oil would make your stomach uneasy. It would make my stomach uneasy if you tried that at home.

We use Sea Salt, rather than Utah's finest. I'm sure this makes no difference at all, but, you do get more minerals from Sea Salt than from highly refined and purified salts. And remember, Iodine is good for you. Goiter can be somewhat of an uncomfortable position, so get your Iodine.

Carrageenan: Carrageenan is a stabilizer, and typically recieves a bad wrap. It is developed from Sea Weed, much like the Green Nori paper used for Sushi rolls. Mmmmm....Sushi rolls. Wasabe. You're making me hungry Mr. Brown. We basically take a very special type of Sea Weed, put it into a blender, and let it ferment similar to cheese. We then dry it, and it is used as a thickener to give the product a little more viscosity. Everyone uses carrageenan in their products, and there is nothing wrong with it.
We currently use Tricalcium Phosphate as our Calcium Source for the product. We will be switching over to Calcium Carbonate in the near future. The only difference between these two products is that Tricalcium Phosphate is fairly inert in the stomach, and is only absorbed in the gut. Calcium Carbonate behaves in the stomach as a buffer. Rolaids and Tums are made out of Calcium Carbonate. What happens to you when you have a Rolaids or Tums? I would be very curious to hear your answer on that. I am going to withold making this change on the product until I hear your answer. So please, at my boss's behest, please do not hold up the Research & Development department. We get yelled at for playing around with our toys in the sand box enough.

Thanks for your question Mr. Brown, I would be curious to hear about your individual reactions to some of the ingredients listed above. But as always, do consult a physician about some of these things as well. They went to school a long time, and should know their Allergen material better than I.

Mark Newman
Sunrich Food Group



Polly, or Wayne, doesn't the sulphurization process involve a soy byproduct? I think I read that white sugar can be contaminated with soy because of it.

Pretty funny, huh? Love, Marsha

[kate_ce1995]

What is he smoking????


(i want some)

Katy

[Marsha]

Dear Katy - my thoughts exactly.

About the white sugar sulphurization process - what's involved in that? And are genetically modified soybeans the norm in soy products, or is that unusual?

[TendrTummy]

He's HILARIOUS :) Nice guy!!! Sounds like a real CHARACTER :) You two must have BONDED ;)

I dunno about SOY, but aren't vanilla beans a source of gluten? dunno if it's the bean or the process but I've heard we're not allowed to eat vanilla flavoured stuff.

Christine

[kate_ce1995]

Christine, I think its the process of flavorings in general. I'm 99% sure there are gf vanilla flavorings. But good question.

Katy

[Mars]

.....in a galaxy far, far away....he smoked something there too!


OMG - I am rolling! This guy is :jester:

[tex]

Marsha,

I'm not familiar with the sulphurization process. I wasn't aware that sugar extraction even involved a sulphurization process.

He obviously enjoys his work. I wonder if maybe your query was the first he's ever received? Surely he can't afford to write very many responses of that depth in a normal day.

He must be fun to work with. I'd love to be working with him, (I think). LOL.

Love,
Tex

[TendrTummy]

funny, Wayne because reading it reminded me of you.. a farmer who knows his work and loves it.

I doubt it was much for him to throw that letter together, really.. he's speaking greek to US, but for him, that's his daily language.. probably took 10 minutes, or he might have thought better than "you're making me hungry, Mr. Brown!" LOL That line was HILARIOUS!!!!!

Should ask if there's any CANNIBUS involved in their process LOL

Christine

[MarkNewman]

Marsha(Mr. Brown), it's too bad that you didn't take my answer seriously. You asked a question, and I answered every possible angle to try to help you, with a little humor mixed in. OK, you didn't get the Star Wars joke. Sorry you missed the 1980's. They didn't have stuff to smoke powerful enough back then, so I don't know what your excuse is. I work in soy because I can't eat Dairy. But, just like every other Less Than Average American, your contribution is cynicism and a feeling of paranoia of the food industry.

If you ever get the chance, go to the Natural Products Expo East or West, each held annually in Anaheim and Baltimore/Washington D.C. You will meet plenty of people who have similar issues, but are very good chefs, food technologists, and flavor chemists, and the reason why they work in the Natural Foods and Health Food category is generally for a reason........not for the money or the glory......trust me, I could make a lot more money working down the street for some much larger companies(Minneapolis has a lot of food companies), but, it is my opinion that most people eat crap, they get fed crap everywhere(schools, restaurants) and it's all due to money---someone wants to increase a profit margin, make money for the shareholders, etc.....well, in that case, everone loses. The Moonrose product that you asked about is actually an Organic Soymilk. It does not say it on the label, but, as the guy who formulated it, it is the same as our company branded product which is USDA Certified Organic. I'll fax you the paperwork if you like.

Statistics don't lie, only statisticians do. The numbers range from 30-70% of Americans are overweight. I believe the 70% number. Americans are fat, lazy, and 70% of them scored less than the top 70th percentile in standardized testing, of those tested. If you are a Genetic Loser and cannot eat what is on this planet, perhaps, you should go jump to another. Get a Rocket Scientist Degree and fly your kite. You can't win all the time.

If anyone has any further questions about soymilk or soy products, I can certainly help you.

We get alot of "stupid" questions to our 1-800 line. Or, what I call stupid questions. But, I answer all of them to the best of my abilities, and I know that people ask questions because they want to know. If you don't like my sense of humor, you can change the channel. You can go drink some crappy soymilk too. And, if you're going to mock me, I'm going to tell you to go fly a kite with a hole in it.

Best of luck digesting all of this. No pun intended.

Mark Newman
Director of R&D, Flavor Chemist
SunOpta Grains and Food Group
mark.newman@sunopta.com

[JJ]

Hahahahaha...that cracked me up! JJ

[Jean]

Marsha,

What was your original question to Mark?

Christine,

Vanilla beans do not contain gluten, they are the fruit of an orchid. Celiacs consider vanilla extract a problem because it contains alcohol. I have used it with no problem, as I have used all distilled alcohols. The distillation process eliminates the big protein molecules. I'm not sure about artificial vanilla flavor.

Katy,

The flavoring process is not in itself a problem. The problem is that we just don't know what is in natural or artificial flavoring. They could be made from our intolerances.

Love, Jean

[Jean]

Mark Newman,

How wonderful to see you here! Please stick around so we can pick your brain.

Us people on this board share a disease. Those of us who have chosen to control it with diet have to be very careful of what we eat. Personally, I am intolerant of the proteins in gluten, dairy, soy, corn and rice. Even the tiniest amount (maybe a molecule) will put me in bed and the bathroom for two days. Obviously, I can't drink your product because of the soy. If I did tolerate soy, I'd still wouldn't be able to use it because of your source of calcium. It is probably made from corn and I wouldn't know for sure unless I contacted your company.

We have a frustrating time at the food store, including health food stores. So many manufactures add vitamins and calcium sources to \\"improve\\" their products, which makes it inedible to us.

Do you have any ideas how we can get our message to the food industry?

I'm so impressed that you took the time to join here, and I loved your letters.

Love, Jean

P.S. Why can't you eat dairy?

[Polly]

Hi Mark and !

It is great to see you here! First of all, I don't think that Marsha was being cynical - I think she really did find your letter amusing. As did I. I also found it to be honest, knowledgeable, and well-thought out.

What Jean has said is so true. Many of us here have found that we have multiple food intolerances that go along with our basic problem, microscopic colitis. It can be extremely frustrating to try to find out what manufacturers have added to their products. (Please see the list of intolerances I have - it's under my avatar to the left of this post). Often when we contact them, they do not know the actual ingredients in their natural flavorings or preservatives, for example. Or they change the ingredients in a product with no warning. It seems that wheat is added to SO many processed foods - uneccessarily IMHO.

I totally agree with you that most Americans eat crap. And most know nothing about nutrition. Especially doctors. (I can say this because I AM one and I can tell you we are taught nothing about nutrition - the emphasis is on PRESCRIBING medications for disease rather than considering dietary changes).

I guess I am one of your "genetic losers" and should move to another planet. LOL! But I must tell you that a number of us here have discovered that the best diet for us is the old hunter-gatherer diet - meat/fowl/seafood, veggies, fruits, nuts/seeds. We do best if we eat NOTHING processed at all. And personally, I find that I do best with organic foods (did you see the recent study that showed that organic produce has 30% more nutrients than produce grown conventionally)? If you want more info on this, just google the "paleo diet" or check out Cordain's book on the same.

It appears that there is a growing number of "genetic losers" being identified, and the theory is that many humans have not yet developed the genetic ability to digest grains. If you look at the entire span of human history, it has only been very recently that man has farmed and eaten grains - 10,000 years ago, which is about 0.5% (that's right - less than 1%) of the total time humans have lived on this planet. Most of us who have this food intolerance problem have genetic backgrounds from the British Isles and other parts of Europe, where the hunter-gatherers lived. So, I believe that is IS all about the genes, as you point out.

And most of us didn't develop these intolerances until adult life. I wonder if part of the problem might be overexposure to food proteins like gluten and dairy, which are ubiquitous additives in processed foods.

Anyway, please forgive those of us who may be a little cynical and paranoid about the food industry. We have had some very bad experiences. It is no fun at all to have to jump out of your car and have explosive diarrhea on the side of the road because you believed the waiter who assured you that none of your food triggers were in the meal that you ordered. Knowing that there are people like you in the food industry is exciting to me. Please hang around and help us.

With best wishes,

Polly

[kate_ce1995]

I don't think we meant our comments to be cynical at all. I was just very suprised because if I wrote a professional response like that in my industry I'd probably get severly reprimanded for it. Actually, it would have never gotten past my boss's desk.

Katy

[annie oakley]

How totally Funny and full of it. Love Oma