US soy producers dispute low sperm count study

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US soy producers on Wednesday disputed a Harvard School of Public Health study that shows products containing soy and isoflavones can result in reduced sperm count among men.

"Headlines claiming 'soy products lower sperm count' do not tell the whole story," the Soyfoods Association of North America said in a statement challenging the methods used in the medical study, the first to relate soy to fertility problems in humans.

The Harvard study examined the soy intake of 99 men experiencing fertility problems for three months and found that isoflavones in soy act like female hormones, giving "an inverse association between soy food intake and sperm concentration."

The Soyfoods Association said the study "conflicts with the large body of US...