Food Alert: Silk Soy Milk

If, like me, you use soy milk in lieu of cow’s milk, you probably purchase, or have purchased, the brand Silk. Silk is the most commonly available soy milk in major supermarkets, especially if you live in a small town. But if you have the option to buy a different brand, now is the time to switch, if you’re still buying Silk. Why? There are several reasons. Take your pick.

1. Silk is owned by the mega corporation Dean Foods. (They also own the organic label Horizon, by the way.) Other commonly known Dean Foods brands include Meadow Gold, Land O Lakes, Mountain High, PET and Mayfield’s in the south, and Garelick Farms in the northeast.

2. If you don’t find mega corporations inherently evil in and of themselves, please know that Silk dropped their organic status on most of their products. I used to buy the original Silk, in the red box, and I don’t know how long I’d been buying it before I noticed the Organic label was switched to Natural. I think I cussed right there in the grocery store. What’s the problem with their Natural soy milk? Products labeled “Natural,” and even products labeled “Made with Organic Ingredients,” do not adhere to the strict standards that organic food is required to. They can still contain pesticides, herbicides, and other nasty things. In the case of Silk, their “natural” soy beans are often processed with hexane, a neurotoxin. Yum, right?

3. If your store does carry the new Silk organic product, in the green carton, you’re probably cheering. But you shouldn’t be. Wanna know where those organic soy beans are now coming from? China. Yep. Silk ended its long relationship with American soy bean growers and started buying soy beans from China because it’s cheaper.

4. If American companies buying foreign imports doesn’t bother you, consider the fact that Chinese “organic” soy beans have failed to meet federal organic standards on several occasions.

If you care about your food, and the workers who produce your food, please consider buying a different brand of soy milk the next time you’re at the store. Organic Valley, for example, is still a small company producing quality products that are safe. They are committed to the organic label, and have a strict non-GMO policy.

For more information visit Organic Consumers.org. and read their article on Silk Soy Milk.