NIH appointed panel to evaluate the safety of SOY

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Panel Will Review the Safety
Of a Compound in Soy Foods
By EMILY ANN BROWN
March 16, 2006; Page D6
WASHINGTON -- A panel of scientists meets this week to consider whether a compound found in soy foods is hazardous to consumers, particularly babies who are fed soy-based formula.

The group, organized by a branch of the National Institutes of Health, will review recent studies on the effects on human development and reproduction of exposure to the steroid genistein. Mimicking the effects of estrogen in the body, genistein is found in foods containing soy, and government officials estimate as many as 20% of infants in the U.S. are fed soy formula.

Soy products are widely marketed as natural and safe, and now account for a $4 billion annual market. But recent research by the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a Syracuse University investigator found that genistein disrupts development of the ovaries in newborn female mice. Other medical professionals have raised concerns that infants fed soy products are susceptible to kidney stones, thyroid disorders and other disorders.

Representatives of the soy-product industry counter that the reproductive and developmental toxicity studies on animals don't automatically translate to humans.

"The animals -- rats and marmoset monkeys -- used in most of the research studies in the report are poor models for predicting human health," said Nancy Chapman, a registered dietitian and the executive director of Soyfoods Association of North America. "Soy foods have been consumed by Asians for centuries, and the offspring of the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian nations are thriving."

Nevertheless, the 14-member panel meeting here this week believes that increased scrutiny of genistein is warranted.

Wendy Jefferson, an NIEHS lead researcher of the report published in the January issue of Biology of Reproduction, said animal testing has been used to predict humans' reaction to food for years and that doing so has generally produced results that translate to humans. On the other hand, she said researchers remain unsure how these compounds affect human development. The panel will also identify gaps in the reports and research needs.

Soy's sales grew after the Food and Drug Administration in 1999 approved a claim that said eating soy reduces the chance for heart disease. "This food that people turned their nose up at became a darling food," said Michael Potter, president and chairman of Eden Foods, a Clinton, Mich., maker of organic soy milk, teas, pasta and other products. An adverse panel finding could change that, he said.

The soy industry is skeptical of the studies. If there is research that is "double-blinded, human-tested, in a controlled environment and published in a peer-reviewed journal," then "we'll take it seriously," said Bob Jones, president and chief executive officer of Vitasoy USA Inc., an Ayer, Mass., maker of organic soy milk. "We're definitely concerned, but I don't think that the soy industry should be too alarmed."

Write to Emily Ann Brown at emily.brown@wsj.com