By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
An upcoming issue of Vegetarian Journal will include an article about plant milk. We’d like to give you a sneak peak at what we found about soy milks. To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, go to http://www.vrg.org/member/
We were able to find more than 80 different varieties of soymilk on grocery aisles and in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. In general, soymilks have more protein, and often more calories than other plant milks, making them a good choice for people who have higher protein needs – pregnant and lactating women, older people, elite athletes, and others. For some children, soymilks can be a very easy way to get in some extra calories and protein.
Many products are labeled as organic and/or contain organic soybeans. Silk makes both organic and non-organic soymilks. 8th Continent products do not appear to be organic.
To see detailed information about everything from the number of calories to how much vitamin B12 is added, to which sweeteners are used in
soymilks from Earth Balance, Eden Foods, 8th Continent, Pacific, Silk, Soy Dream, Trader Joe’s, Westsoy, Whole Foods, and Zensoy, take a look at http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/milk_alternatives/soymilk_table.pdf.
Thanks to VRG interns Candice Kalinski and Gabrielle Rapsis for helping to collect product information.