Soy products in tea?

[sylvie]

I was looking at tea labels at my local big name grocery. I love anything containing Lemon Verbena so naturally I read labels to find it.
Lemon Lift by Bigelow seemed lemony so I was totally unprepared to read that it lists its natural lemon flavors from soy lecithin, period.
I know many consider soy lecithin a health food, but not those of us avoiding all soy. SIL has an allergy to all legumes, esp soy. She and I have tea at Sunday dinner and I was to bring the tea. I would have felt terrible if she consumed it, then had a reaction to it. If I hadn't been on the quest for Verbena I wouldn't have read it.
I've been to tearooms on many occasions and they don't list the tea ingredients on the menus I've seen!

I never thought I'd find a soy product in tea.
Somehow I don't equate natural lemon flavoring with soy.

All the more reason to grow extra, extra Lemon Verbena this year.
Consumer beware.

 

[Wifezilla]

I started reading labels very closely about 3 years ago. If it isn't soy they are adding, it is high fructose corn syrup.

 

[sylvie]

Aside from nut products, don't they also have a loophole where they don't need to list an ingredient if it is below a certain %?
If true then all the label reading is basically pointless to some degree.
I know they sure aren't listing the mercury in the HFCS.

Soy could be hiding anywhere if this is the case.

 

[Wifezilla]

Which is pretty much why I don't eat pre-packaged foods. Our diet is mostly whole dairy, meat, nuts and veggies.

 

[freemotion]

They've got huge loopholes. MSG isn't on labels much anymore, but it is still in foods in large quantities. It is found on the label as "spices" and "natural flavoring."

 

[Wifezilla]

They don't have to list carbohydrates below a certain amount either. When you are counting carbs, you can be off by as much as 20g in a day. When you are limited to 50g or below, that is a HUGE margin of error.

 

[ToLiveToLaugh]

Aside from nut products, don't they also have a loophole where they don't need to list an ingredient if it is below a certain %?
If true then all the label reading is basically pointless to some degree.
I know they sure aren't listing the mercury in the HFCS.

Soy could be hiding anywhere if this is the case.

Soy, eggs, milk, and nuts are considered "allergen foods" because they are the foods most common for people to react to. They must be listed at any amount, just like with nuts. So if it contains added soy (NOT as a processing agent that is "removed", that is a whole different issue) then it is listed in the "Contains": panel.

I'm in a food law class right now. 99% it's "lets like the boots of the FDA and the USDA" but learning the regs has been helpful.

 

[big brown horse]

I just spent 2 days carefully planting 360 seeds, all heirloom and mostly organic. (Mostly veggies but about 12 different herbs) It was time consuming and I still have to transplant them out into my garden later, but WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!

Sylvie, that makes me soooo mad!!! I will be making my own herb tea this year THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

I planted stevia, wish me luck, it is supposed to be very picky. (Thanks again Blackbird for the stevia seeds.)

 

[sylvie]

That is great information, ToLiveToLaugh!

I know that the carcinogen, nickle, is added to food grade fats and glycerin during processing as a catalyst and when removed still leaves a good percentage of itself behind. The amounts retrieved are not equal to the amounts that went in, simple as that. You are right- I've never seen nickle listed as an ingredient in lipstick, cooking oils, etc.
What are you taking food law for?

 

[sylvie]

I just spent 2 days carefully planting 360 seeds, all heirloom and mostly organic. (Mostly veggies but about 12 different herbs) It was time consuming and I still have to transplant them out into my garden later, but WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!

Sylvie, that makes me soooo mad!!! I will be making my own herb tea this year THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

I planted stevia, wish me luck, it is supposed to be very picky. (Thanks again Blackbird for the stevia seeds.)

Growing and knowing your food isn't just a past-time anymore, is it?

Good luck on the Stevia and definitely let us know if you had success. I always buy the plants each year and they grow fine for me here until winter gets them. I'd like to try the seeds eventually.