Why French health officials want schools to stop serving soya products
Health agency recommends such products are banned from canteens
Food producers and manufacturers asked to review soya production and processing techniques
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A French government health agency wants to ban soy products from public canteens – including schools – over risks products can lead to a hormonal imbalance.
The agency, Anses, recommends such products are banned from canteens at schools of all levels, as well as company canteens and in nursing homes.
No concrete steps have yet been taken to ban the products, however.
The reason behind the proposal is the high level of isoflavones present in soya.
This compound, similar in some ways to oestrogens, can reduce fertility in women by around 3% if consumed in large quantities (around 70g of soya per day, equalling 40mg of isoflavones).
It can also impact a woman’s menstrual cycle, prolonging the follicular phase and reducing ovulation.
However, men are also impacted, with a high intake of isoflavones corresponding to a lower sperm count, likewise affecting fertility.
New recommended limits
“The message is not intended to discourage soy consumption, but to raise awareness of the risks associated with certain products,” said Anses researcher Perrine Nadaud.
“Among soy consumers, 47% exceed the recommended isoflavone thresholds, thus increasing the risk of adverse effects,” she added.
“For the moment, it is not possible to recommend a maximum quantity of soy to be consumed per day, as soy products contain highly variable levels of isoflavones…This is why Anses is aiming to establish a protective value in order to limit the risks of exposure.”
These thresholds are the following:
0.02 mg of isoflavones per kg of body weight per day, reduced to 0.01 mg/kg for pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and prepubescent children.
“Below this threshold, there is supposedly no health risk,” said Ms Nadaud.
You can read the study in full here.
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Depends on product being consumed
Alongside a call to ban soy products from canteens, Anses has called on producers using soy for their products to review production methods to reduce the level of isoflavones.
“In the preparation of soy products, whether by washing, soaking or a whole series of other operations, traditional Asian techniques make it possible to reduce the levels of these isoflavones,” said Ms Nadaud.
However, the level of the chemical varies greatly within each soy product.
Soy-based crackers, for example, contain up to 100 times more isoflavones than soy sauce, with whole soybeans and toasted soy cracked also rating highly.
In comparison, soy milk and soy-based desserts have significantly lower levels, but are consumed in higher quantities.
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