The soymilk-go-round.

October 10, 2004

diabetes and its archives prohibited unless permitted,

original print appearance in the July 2004 issue of The Espresso: San

Diego's Coffeehouse and Cafe Newspaper, if this seems a little over the top

you should see " The Copyright and Trademark Comic Book " by Lovitz

and the Pindar Brothers!

Starbucks' Soy Sins of Omission, Or How Much Sugar in the Soy Latte?

Whilst grabbing a Latte at Starbucks (a sin for which there is no earthly

absolution, according to the ESPRESSO's editor), one writer also grabbed a

multicolored tri-fold brochure proclaiming Silk ® Soymilk is now the soy of

choice at Starbucks.

Inside the pamphlet was a nice little boxed statement of “Here's what's in 1

cup (8 fl oz) of Silk Soymilk.”

This boxed text looked somewhat like a statutory “Nutrition Facts” box, but

it omitted any mention of fats or carbohydrates. A trip to a supermarket,

where the soy milk containers have real nutrition facts printed on them,

disclosed that Silk ® vanilla flavored soy milk has 3.5 grams of fat, 10

grams of carbohydrate (1 gram fiber, seven grams sugar) and six grams of

protein per cup. Sun brand vanilla flavored soymilk, which is used by at

least one coffeehouse frequented by ESPRESSO writers, has 3.5 grams of fat,

12 grams of carbohydrate (of which one is fiber and eight are sugars of one

sort or another) and six grams of protein per cup.

Unsweetened, vanilla flavored Westsoy yields 4.5 grams of fat, 5 grams of

carbohydrate (four fiber, one sugar) and nine grams of protein per cup.

We've not conducted a formal dietetic derby and tasting for soy milks, but

we were a bit shocked to see 8th Continent's chocolate soy milk contains a

whopping, near-soft-drink load of 23 grams of carbohydrate (1 of fiber, 21

of sugars) per cup!

For comparison purposes, the non-fat milk in the ESPRESSO fridge contains no

fat (duh!), a dozen grams of carbohydrate (all sugar, including lactose) and

nine grams of protein per cup. This probably doesn't include the layer of

green scum on the top.

END

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