Soymilk Products

[Shelley Gunn]

I purchased some soymilk last weekend to use in smoothies. By the 2nd day of use I had a bad stomach ache and spent half of my working day in the bathroom. There was no gluten or wheat listed on the soymilk container. Later I found out that wheat was included under the category of "natural flavoring". Now what part of natural flavoring would allow me the knowledge to know that it contained gluten. I sent the company an e-mail and have not received a response from them at all. I also e-mailed a couple other companies that I knew sold soymilk products in my area. I received the following responses:

1. Organic Valley. None of our soy milks contain any wheat. Organic Valley Soy is gluten, cholesterol, and lactose - dairy free.

2. Silk. The products listed below are gluten-free (no rye, oats, wheat, malt or barley). In addition, we do not use casein in any of our products or ingredients. Silk gluten-free Product List:

Soymilk

Silk Organic Plain

Silk Vanilla

Silk Very Vanilla

Silk Enhanced

Silk Light Plain

Silk Light Vanilla

Silk Light Chocolate

Silk Chocolate

Silk Coffee Soylatte

Silk Mocha

Silk Chai

Silk Spice Soylatte

Silk Unsweetened

Silk Nog

Silk Exclusively Formulated for Starbucks®

Silk Original Creamer

Silk French Vanilla Creamer

Silk Hazelnut Creamer

Silk Cultured Soy: All flavors are gluten-free

Silk live! Smoothies:

Mango, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry

Tofu: Hard Tofu (Tidal Wave), Organic Soft Tofu (Water Pack), Extra Firm Tofu, Organic Firm Tofu (Water Pack), Fat Reduced Tofu

Tempeh, Tempeh Original Soy, Tempeh Soy Rice

I don't know if this posted anywhere on the website but I wanted to share it with anybody that is interested.

Thanks

[Ursa Major]

Shelley, natural flavouring MIGHT contain gluten, but on the other hand, it might not. We shouldn't eat anything that includes it as an ingredient just in case it does contain gluten.

You may just be intolerant to soy! Soy will cause a reaction in intolerant people that is very much like being glutened.

[psawyer]

Hi, Shelley, and welcome to the site.

Natural flavor can hide gluten, but more often than not it is okay. You should contact the manufacturer to find out (see below, though).

There are a number of companies that will not hide gluten, but will clearly disclose it with the words wheat, rye, barley and/or oats. You don't need to call them--if you don't see one of those words, there is no hidden gluten.

The list I have is:

Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hershey, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Smucker, Stokely's, Sunny Delight, T Marzetti, Tyson, Unilever, Wishbone, Yoplait, Zatarain's.

[mmaccartney]

Hold on.

If the product contained Wheat, and it was hidden in Natural Flavorings...

If you are in the USA, they are in violation of the new food labeling laws (Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA)) that took effect Jan 1, 2006. The product would have to be manufactored on or after Jan 1, however with soymilk I would suspect it was.

If I were you I would

1) Use Silk Soymilk (Its the best anyway! go with the vanilla fortified)

2) Obtain from the company the fact that Wheat is hidden in natural flavors in writing.

3) Keep the container that you have, and find out from the company when it was produced.

4) If it was produced in 2006, and you are in the USA, and Wheat was the hidden ingredient, TAKE ACTION!!

It would take some research to find out how to take action, and I don't know of any civil penalties that can be awarded to you (not that I'm a sue happy person), but if they've broken the law, make them pay!!! While most of us celiacs encounter non life threatening symptoms, someone with a severe wheat allergy could die from that type of contamination... that is why the law was passed!!!!!!!!!

Here is some info:

Is there a penalty for non-compliance with FALCPA?

Yes. A company and its management may be subject to civil sanctions, criminal penalties, or both under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act if one of its packaged food products does not comply with the FALCPA labeling requirements. FDA may also request seizure of food products where the label of the product does not conform to FALCPA's requirements. In addition, FDA is likely to request that a food product containing an undeclared allergen be recalled by the manufacturer or distributor.

Resource / reference: Open Original Shared Link

Again, I'm not a sue happy person, but I have celiac, my children have life threatening food allergies. I'd like to see this law put to more good use!

[eeyor-fan]

I purchased some soymilk last weekend to use in smoothies. By the 2nd day of use I had a bad stomach ache and spent half of my working day in the bathroom. There was no gluten or wheat listed on the soymilk container. Later I found out that wheat was included under the category of "natural flavoring". Now what part of natural flavoring would allow me the knowledge to know that it contained gluten. I sent the company an e-mail and have not received a response from them at all. I also e-mailed a couple other companies that I knew sold soymilk products in my area. I received the following responses:

1. Organic Valley. None of our soy milks contain any wheat. Organic Valley Soy is gluten, cholesterol, and lactose - dairy free.

2. Silk. The products listed below are gluten-free (no rye, oats, wheat, malt or barley). In addition, we do not use casein in any of our products or ingredients. Silk gluten-free Product List:

Soymilk

Silk Organic Plain

Silk Vanilla

Silk Very Vanilla

Silk Enhanced

Silk Light Plain

Silk Light Vanilla

Silk Light Chocolate

Silk Chocolate

Silk Coffee Soylatte

Silk Mocha

Silk Chai

Silk Spice Soylatte

Silk Unsweetened

Silk Nog

Silk Exclusively Formulated for Starbucks®

Silk Original Creamer

Silk French Vanilla Creamer

Silk Hazelnut Creamer

Silk Cultured Soy: All flavors are gluten-free

Silk live! Smoothies:

Mango, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry

Tofu: Hard Tofu (Tidal Wave), Organic Soft Tofu (Water Pack), Extra Firm Tofu, Organic Firm Tofu (Water Pack), Fat Reduced Tofu

Tempeh, Tempeh Original Soy, Tempeh Soy Rice

I don't know if this posted anywhere on the website but I wanted to share it with anybody that is interested.

Thanks

Some celiacs have trouble digesting soy and get stomach aches or sick in other ways (read the info on celiac at the celiac.com area). As far as labels go...I usually just call the company even if I don't think there is gluten in it. Soy has protein so it is good for the body, but some celiacs on here (won't mention a name) think soy is evil because some celiacs get sick from soy-- soy is like a lot of things; some celiacs can't tollerate it and some can. If you are one of the ones who can tollerate the gluten-free soy products out there then it is a good way to get protein if you don't eat a lot of maet, fish or eggs (like I do).

I myself like the soy veggie cheese (says gluten-free on packet), and 8th continant soy milk says they are gluten-free when you call the company (I've never had a problem with 8th Continant).

Hope this helps,

Bridge

[Shelley Gunn]

Hold on.

If the product contained Wheat, and it was hidden in Natural Flavorings...

If you are in the USA, they are in violation of the new food labeling laws (Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA)) that took effect Jan 1, 2006. The product would have to be manufactored on or after Jan 1, however with soymilk I would suspect it was.

If I were you I would

1) Use Silk Soymilk (Its the best anyway! go with the vanilla fortified)

2) Obtain from the company the fact that Wheat is hidden in natural flavors in writing.

3) Keep the container that you have, and find out from the company when it was produced.

4) If it was produced in 2006, and you are in the USA, and Wheat was the hidden ingredient, TAKE ACTION!!

It would take some research to find out how to take action, and I don't know of any civil penalties that can be awarded to you (not that I'm a sue happy person), but if they've broken the law, make them pay!!! While most of us celiacs encounter non life threatening symptoms, someone with a severe wheat allergy could die from that type of contamination... that is why the law was passed!!!!!!!!!

Here is some info:

Is there a penalty for non-compliance with FALCPA?

Yes. A company and its management may be subject to civil sanctions, criminal penalties, or both under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act if one of its packaged food products does not comply with the FALCPA labeling requirements. FDA may also request seizure of food products where the label of the product does not conform to FALCPA's requirements. In addition, FDA is likely to request that a food product containing an undeclared allergen be recalled by the manufacturer or distributor.

Resource / reference: Open Original Shared Link

Again, I'm not a sue happy person, but I have celiac, my children have life threatening food allergies. I'd like to see this law put to more good use!

Thank you everyone. I am glad to have so many knowledgable people to give me advice. I have not heard back from the company yet but I am going to send them another message. I have a feeling that they don't want to talk about it and they are ignoring me. I will let you know if I find out anything and what steps I can take to pursue this further.

Thanks again.