Thanks to the two people who sent this in to me.

I’ve uploaded the article as a pdf, downloadble here [113kb pdf].

Basically the article confirms the high levels of iodine in Bonsoy (refer table 2, page 3 of pdf) – 25,000-27,000 micrograms (ugrams/L) of iodine per litre.

Compare this to other soy milks which range from 15-30 ugrams/L. Yes, the difference is that large – nearly 1,000 times as much iodine.

Whilst a few people have pointed out the dangers of insufficient iodine, this article also makes the case for the need for testing of imported food for contaminants, in particular for iodine.

I’m actually shocked that something like Bonsoy (or anything really) could be allowed to be sold in Australia without testing, especially given our fairly strict food standards. I can’t even buy Clif Bars locally due one organic ingredient, but Bonsoy is ok? What gives?

There’s a bigger question here and it revolves around Food Standards Australia NZ, and also the 2003-2005 Vitasoy iodine case. Why was that case swept under the rug? To my mind, the whole Bonsoy debacle ought never have happened. You can’t tell me the soy milk industry in the Tasman region is so big that Spiral didn’t know about the Vitasoy case.

Anyway, at least we have some serious investigation and action on this whole schemozzle.