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from http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,353660,00.html
Soya alert over cancer and
brain damage link
Special report: what's
wrong with our food?
by Antony Barnett, public
affairs editor
Sunday August 13, 2000
The Observer
A health warning was sounded
last night over the dangers of eating soya after two senior American government
scientists revealed that chemicals in the product could increase the risk of
breast cancer in women, brain damage in men and abnormalities in infants.
The disclosure, which sent shockwaves through the multi-billion dollar food
industry, came after the scientists decided to break ranks with colleagues in
the US Food and Drug Administration and oppose its decision last year to approve
a health claim that soya reduced the risk of heart disease. They wrote an
internal protest letter warning of 28 studies revealing toxic effects of soya.
In an interview with The Observer, one of the scientists, Daniel Doerge, an
expert on soya, said: 'We have very real worries that this health claim will be
used by the industry as an endorsement of much wider health benefits to soya
beyond the heart. Research has shown a clear link between soya and the potential
for adverse effects in humans.'
BSE and other health scares related to meat have led to rocketing sales of
soya-related products in Britain. But it is not just vegetarian foods such as
tofu that use soya. It is a key ingredient in products from meat sausages and
fish fingers to salad creams and breakfast cereals.
The concerns of Doerge and fellow FDA researcher Daniel Sheehan focus on
chemicals in soya known as isoflavones which have effects similar to the female
hormone oestrogen.
While these chemicals may help to prevent a range of conditions including
high cholesterol, they also lead to health problems in animals including
altering sexual development of foetuses and causing thyroid disorders. Although
soy is thought to protect against breast cancer, some studies show that
chemicals in soya may increase the chances of breast cancer which uses oestrogen-type
hormones for growth.
Their letter to the FDA seen by The Observer states: 'There is abundant
evidence that some of the isoflavones found in soy demonstrate toxicity in
oestrogen sensitive tissues and in the thyroid. Additionally, the adverse
effects in humans occur in several tissues.
'During pregnancy in humans, isoflavones per se could be a risk factor for
abnormal brain and reproductive tract development.'
This will frighten mothers who increasingly use soya milk for babies. Doerge
said: 'They are exposing their children to chemicals which we know have adverse
effects in animals. It's like doing a large uncontrolled and unmonitored
experiment on infants.'
The soya industry insists that most research shows the health benefits of
soya outweigh risks and that adverse effects seen in animals do not apply to
humans.
Richard Barnes, European director of the US Soy Bean Association, said:
'Millions of people around the world have been eating soya for years and have
shown no signs of abnormalities or disorders.'
Useful links:
www.ifrn.bbsrc.ac.uk/public/FoodInfoSheets/soya.html
Institute of Food Research information sheet on soya
© Copyright Guardian
Media Group plc. 2000
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