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- A health warning was sounded last night over the dangers
of eating soya after two senior American government scientists revealed
that chemicals in the product could increase the risk of breast cancer
in women, brain damage in men and abnormalities in infants.
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- The disclosure, which sent shockwaves through the multi-billion
dollar food industry, came after the scientists decided to break ranks
with colleagues in the US Food and Drug Administration and oppose its decision
last year to approve a health claim that soya reduced the risk of heart
disease. They wrote an internal protest letter warning of 28 studies revealing
toxic effects of soya.
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- In an interview with The Observer, one of the scientists,
Daniel Doerge, an expert on soya, said: 'We have very real worries that
this health claim will be used by the industry as an endorsement of much
wider health benefits to soya beyond the heart. Research has shown a clear
link between soya and the potential for adverse effects in humans.'
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- BSE and other health scares related to meat have led
to rocketing sales of soya-related products in Britain. But it is not just
vegetarian foods such as tofu that use soya. It is a key ingredient in
products from meat sausages and fish fingers to salad creams and breakfast
cereals.
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- The concerns of Doerge and fellow FDA researcher Daniel
Sheehan focus on chemicals in soya known as isoflavones which have effects
similar to the female hormone oestrogen.
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- While these chemicals may help to prevent a range of
conditions including high cholesterol, they also lead to health problems
in animals including altering sexual development of foetuses and causing
thyroid disorders. Although soy is thought to protect against breast cancer,
some studies show that chemicals in soya may increase the chances of breast
cancer which uses oestrogen-type hormones for growth.
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- Their letter to the FDA seen by The Observer states:
'There is abundant evidence that some of the isoflavones found in soy demonstrate
toxicity in oestrogen sensitive tissues and in the thyroid. Additionally,
the adverse effects in humans occur in several tissues.
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- 'During pregnancy in humans, isoflavones per se could
be a risk factor for abnormal brain and reproductive tract development.'
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- This will frighten mothers who increasingly use soya
milk for babies. Doerge said: 'They are exposing their children to chemicals
which we know have adverse effects in animals. It's like doing a large
uncontrolled and unmonitored experiment on infants.'
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- The soya industry insists that most research shows the
health benefits of soya outweigh risks and that adverse effects seen in
animals do not apply to humans.
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- Richard Barnes, European director of the US Soy Bean
Association, said: 'Millions of people around the world have been eating
soya for years and have shown no signs of abnormalities or disorders.'
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