Wednesday, April 6, 2011

What is Soy Lecithin....?

Soy Lecithin is an ingredient that has made its way into almost everything, just like High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Invented in 1847 by a French Chemist, lecithin was then isolated from egg yolk.  It is used mainly as an emulsifier and helps to prevent sticking when used in food.  Soon it became able to isolate the lecithin in soy and hence is where we are at now.

The problem is that soy lecithin really is in so much different types of food and some people are starting to develop allergies to it.  It is derived from soy so it is expected that some people who are allergic to soy products would henceforth be allergic to soy lecithin but that is not always the case.  Some common allergies are gas/bloating, nausea, diarrhea, rashes, itches, and difficulty breathing.

What I want to know, is why soy lecithin is in things in the first place.  Chocolate covered raisins, for example, used to be made with tempered chocolate and sugar and it covered the raisins.  You would get some dark chocolate and melt in and stir some sugar and melt and keep warm until properly tempered and then you would dip the raisins in it.  Now, that same end product has sugar and high fructose corn syrup in it, as well as a load of preservatives like perhaps sodium bicarbonate or even soy lecithin.  The thing is with chocolate, that if the chocolate was tempered and mixed properly, you will not need soy lecithin.  This means that it makes it so less quality or production can be used to still make a good product.  But what starts to falter is the ingredients as with every new preservative or thing that comes out, there isn't any new research done.  Europe has banned high fructose corn syrup from their food and candy.  Why?  Because there hasn't been enough research to make it safe and while you may think that it can't be an issue, then why are so many American products coming out with sugar again and without high fructose corn syrup?  Pepsi Throwback, soda made with real sugar, that's insane!

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