Thorne Verified: Soy-free
Soy-free Certified
What is a soy allergy?
Soy protein is one of the eight most common food allergens.1 In the United States, an allergy to soy, which often starts during infancy or childhood, affects as many as 1.5 million adults.1 According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Nutrition, 10-14 percent of infants with a dairy allergy will react similarly to soy formulas.2
On this page, we will help you navigate what you need to know about a soy allergy, including the health concerns commonly associated with soy, what foods are obvious or hidden sources of soy, what Thorne products contain ingredients derived from soy, and what Thorne does to assure that you are aware of soy-containing products and to avoid hidden soy.
What are typical soy allergy symptoms?
If you have a soy allergy, then your immune system identifies certain soy proteins as harmful foreign substances and mounts an antibody reaction against the protein(s). Although soy allergies are common, they are typically not as severe as other food allergies. There are exceptions, of course, particularly in cases of cross-reactivity, such as with a peanut allergy, in which case a reaction to soy can be severe - even life threatening.
Soy allergies are most common in infants and toddlers and are often caused by a reaction to soy-based infant formulas. Such reactions usually manifest as digestive symptoms - colic, diarrhea, and vomiting. Although a child often outgrows a soy allergy, it can extend into adulthood with typical symptoms being hives, itching, runny nose, and digestive complaints.
Which foods contain or might contain soy?
The most common and obvious sources of dietary soy include anything directly derived from soybeans, including soy milk, soy flour, tofu, tempeh, soy sauce, tamari, soy nuts, soy grits, bean sprouts, edamame, miso, and natto. Less obvious foods that typically contain soy or are derived from soy include oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, high-protein cereals, and some gluten-free breads.
Many processed foods also contain soy. For example, you might see some of these ingredients on a food label, which are, or might be, derived from soy: textured vegetable protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, MSG, mono- and diglycerides (emulsifiers used in ice cream, chewing gum, bread, nut butters, instant mashed potatoes, mayonnaise, and more), lecithin, and vegetable broths.
This website sponsored by the University of Wisconsin provides a more complete list of foods to avoid and foods to approach with caution, as well as foods to substitute for soy: https://www.uwhealth.org/healthfacts/nutrition/272.pdf
What about soy oil or foods derived from soy oil?
How can I tell if the food or dietary supplement I purchase contains soy
protein?
What Thorne products contain soy?
What does Thorne do to ensure there is no hidden soy protein in a
dietary supplement?
In addition to clearly labeling products that are derived from soy, we carefully track all raw materials back to our vendors, who must verify the presence or absence of allergens, including soy. That is how we discovered, for example, the possible hidden soy in Red Yeast Rice + CoQ10.
Then, when the raw materials arrive at our facility, every ingredient for every product is quarantined when it first enters our facility. Allergen-containing ingredients are separated by allergen - milk, soy, fish, shellfish, etc. - and quarantined until they can be tested and moved into production. All ventilation systems are closed systems to avoid cross-contamination. After production of a particular product, the manufacturing equipment used is taken completely apart and thoroughly cleaned before it is used again to make another product.
On the rare occasion when there is concern about potential contamination, the product is tested for the presence of soy protein in our in-house, state-of-the-art laboratory. Our laboratory uses the well-known and well-accepted Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method to analyze for amino acid sequences that would indicate the presence of soy proteins. See below in the FAQs about specific products tested.
Soy allergies and nutrient deficiencies
Frequently asked questions about soy in Thorne products.
Q. What products does Thorne have that contain an ingredient derived
from soy?
A. Red Yeast Rice + CoQ10, Choleast-900, Phosphatidylserine, MediClear Plus, MediClear-SGS, Phosphatidyl Choline, CoQ10, RecoveryPro (see above for more detail)
Q: Are your phytosome products soy-based?
Q: Which phytosomes are now derived from sunflower?
A: Thorne's sunflower lecithin-based phytosomes include: Boswellia phytosome (Casperome®), curcumin phytosome (Meriva®), green tea phytosome (GreenSelect® Phytosome), quercetin phytosome (Quercefit), and silybin phytosome (Siliphos®)
Q: Which phytosomes are derived from soy lecithin?
- Grape seed extract phytosome (Leucoselect® Phytosome), which is included in MediClear Plus and MediClear-SGS
Q: Do soy-derived phytosomes typically result in an allergic reaction?
Q: Does Thorne test soy-based products for the presence of soy protein?
- Phosphatidylserine powder - used in Phosphatidylserine (formerly Iso-Phos) and Nerve Support Complex (formerly Neurochondria)
Grapeseed phytosome - used in MediClear Plus, MediClear-SGS
- Yeast rice - used in Red Yeast Rice + CoQ10 (formerly Choleast) and Choleast-900
Q: Did any products test for significant levels of soy protein?
References
- Gupta R, Warren C, Smith B, et al. Prevalence and severity of food allergies among US adults. JAMA Netw Open 2019;2(1):e185630. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.5630
- Bhatia J, Greer F. Use of soy protein-based formulas in infant feeding. Pediatrics 2008;121(5):1062-1068. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0564
- https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/inventory-petitions-received-under-21-usc-343w6-exemptions-food-allergen-labeling [Accessed Nov. 23, 2020]
Thorne Verified
Thorne cares deeply about where our ingredients come from. Our research and development team is tasked with sourcing exceptional ingredients, maintaining oversight of an ingredient's origin, and providing complete supply chain transparency.
We partner only with suppliers whose practices emphasize quality, science, and environmental responsibility. We believe that better ingredients mean better potency, absorption, and digestibility - and ultimately better health.
