Let Them Eat … Phytoestrogens!

Insight on the News, April 17, 2000 by John Elvin

Insight recently conducted a rather unappetizing review of the nation's school-lunch program, revealing that quite a bit of the meat fed to American schoolchildren is tainted. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, responded -- coincidentally, no doubt, but in short order -- by issuing a directive on the use of soy in the school-lunch program. Previously, there was a limit of 30 percent soy content in items such as tacos and burgers, but now schools can use as much as they want. They even can offer a soy burger with no meat in it at all. Oh, to be young again, eh? Well, no doubt there is much to be said for intentional soy vs. the various unintentional ingredients that might be found.

The ruling applies to federally subsidized lunch programs in schools and daycare centers. Menu planners had told the USDA they were having difficulty meeting new rules regarding reduction of fat content in meals. The USDA responded by eliminating the restrictions on the use of soy or tofu, a move that had been attempted during the Reagan administration but was dropped -- possibly because it was paired with a plan to classify ketchup as a vegetable, a proposal that was greeted with hoots on the late-night comedy circuit.

So, now there is at least a partial solution to the tainted-meat problem. And, like most solutions, this one is less than perfect. About the time the USDA's new rules on soy were announced, a medical conference on soy took place in Washington featuring a warning from doctors that pregnant women on a soy diet may risk long-term developmental damage to their children. Researchers at the Center for Women's Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center based their warning on the finding that a soy diet might have a negative effect on newborns in "the way the brain is organized, the way the reproductive organs and cells develop, even the way immune function develops." They found, for instance, that when mother rats had been exposed to phytoestrogens, a compound found in soy, resultant young male rats experienced early onset of puberty.