Soy milk is a high protein, iron-rich milky liquid produced from pressingground, cooked soybeans. Creamy white soy milk resembles cow's milkbut in fact differs from its dairy counterpart in a number of ways. Notonly is it higher in protein and iron content, but it is cholesterol-free,low fat, and low sodium. It is, however, lower in calcium and must befortified with calcium when given to growing children. Those who areallergic to cow's milk or are unable to digest lactose, the naturalsugar found in cow's milk, find soy milk easy to digest since it islactose-free. Those who are calorie-conscious can purchase reduced fat soymilk (called lite soy milk) but this is often lower in protein as well.Some do not enjoy the taste of original soy milk, so manufacturers nowoffer flavored soy milk. Soy milk can be substituted for milk in nearlyany recipe.
Soy sauce has largely been produced by the Sri Lankan Chinese community but its production has also spread to other communities in Sri Lanka. Soy sauce production in Sri Lanka is the same as the production of soy sauce in Indonesia. Fermentation occurs over a period of three months.
Those who merely want to boost protein intake often addpowdered soy milk to other beverages; others find it economical topurchase it in powder form and then make soy milk when they add water tothe powder. Children under one year of age should be given a formula ofsoy milk specifically developed with their nutritional needs in mind. Soymilk that is intentionally curdled is known as tofu.HistoryThe soybean(Glycine max)is the world's foremost provider of protein and oil. The Chinesehave been cultivating soybeans for thousands of years. The first writtenrecord of Chinese cultivation dates to the third centuryB.C.Many believe that the Chinese have been making soy milk forcenturies—it has been sold in cafes and from street vendors forgenerations. So important to the Chinese are soybeans for the productionof soy milk and tofu that soybeans are considered one of the five sacredgrains along with rice, wheat, barley, and millet. Soybeans made their wayto Japan by the sixth century and to Europe by the seventeenth century.The beans came to the United States on ships from Asia and were used asballast and often discarded once the ships docked.
But soldiers during theCivil War substituted soy beans for coffee beans and were thus makingtheir own form of soy beverage. By the nineteenth century, soy beverageswere available in Europe as well.However, the popularity of soybean products, including soy milk, cameslowly to the United States. African-American agriculturist GeorgeWashington Carver began studying the soybean and touting its nutritivevalue in the early twentieth century. Shortly thereafter, doctors becameintrigued with their use for its nutritional value, particularly forchildren unable to drink cow's milk.
Soybean production hasincreased in the United States throughout the twentieth century and is astaple crop for many midwestern farmers, allowing soy milk producers asteady supply of the main ingredient. Soybeans are grown in 29 states andare our second largest cash crop.Until the 1950s, soy milk was made in small quantities at home or in smallshops and was not produced on a mass scale in this country. At this time,soy milk was bottled like soft drinks. Much of the technology now used inthe production of soy milk was developed by the Japanese who use soybeverages (and other soy products) in tremendous quantities.In the 1970s, when interest in soy and other non-dairy products soared,manufacturers began adding flavors to the bland soy milk. Shortlythereafter, the development of aseptic packaging (in which the milk ispackaged in such a way that no air is introduced which can contain harmfulbacteria) brought the beverage into the modern era.Raw MaterialsSoy milk requires only soybeans and water (and steam) for its creation.Soy milk is nearly always fortified with calcium, vitamins D, and certainB vitamins.
Highly concentrated flavorings, such as vanilla, carob,chocolate, and almond are often added to the finished product. Manycompanies add sugar and salt to the drink to make it more palatable to theconsumer.The ManufacturingProcessThe soybean is a low acid food and as such, is a good host for thebreeding of harmful bacteria. Thus, the manufacturing process is'aseptic,' meaning that at a certain point in itsproduction, the soy milk is sealed off from any air because it mightintroduce dangerous bacteria into the product. The development ofsuccessful, affordable aseptic production of soy milk has been oftremendous importance in the mass production of this beverage. The initialphases of the production of soy milk do not have to be sealed off to air;only later does this happen.Procuring the raw materials.1 Soy milk manufacturers very often work directly with farmers so thatthe kind of soy bean that produces good soy milk is grown (onemanufacturer gives the farmers the seeds for the soybeans they require).Generally soy milk producers seek large soybeans called clear hylem.Once the soybeans are harvested and brought to the plant, the beansare cleaned in a grain elevator or bin on or off premises. The processmay begin with the blending together of four to six tons of soybeansat one time. Some factories have two or more production lines runningat one time, and thus use several tons of soybeans in a day.De-hulling.2 The soybeans are steamed and split in half.
This loosens the hull onthe bean. A vacuum sucks off the hulls.Invalidating the indigestibleenzyme.3 Next, soybeans must be cooked in order to invalidate, or counteract, aspecific enzyme which makes them indigestible to humans.
This cookingoccurs in the Enzyme Invalidator, in which the de-hulled soybeans arecooked using high pressure, Water, and high temperature (creating veryhot live steam) to invalidate that enzyme.Rough grinding.4 The cooked soybeans then fall into the first rough grinder or mill.Water is added to the machine and the bean pieces are roughly ground inthis first milling.Finer grinding.5 Although they have been ground once, the cooked soybeans are stillrather coarse. Thus, the fine grinder further pulverizes the beanpellets into small particles. The hot slurry is white in color withminuscule particles of insoluble soybean particles.Extracting.6 A large centrifuge is then used to extract the tiny bits of soybeanthat are insoluble and cannot be included in the finished product. Theseparticles are separated from the soy milk slurry using a centrifuge. Arubber roller presses the soy milk slurry against the surface of a drumwithin the centrifuge, forcing the liquid inside the drum while thefibers remain on the outside of the drum.
The drum is then scraped ofthese fibers.These soybean fibers are physically removed from the productionprocess at this time. This waste soy fiber is called okara and itresembles mashed potatoes.
A separate process dries the okara for useother than human consumption. The fiber-less soy liquid is raw soymilk at this point and is referred to in the industry as jun. Good quality soybeans are harvested, cleaned, hulled, andpressure cooked. Next, the cooked soybeans are ground by a numberof grinders that transform the beans into a milky slurry. Theslurry is placed in a centrifuge that extracts any insoluble bitsof bean. The separated soy liquid called jun is blended withvitamins, flavorings, and sugar and then sterilized andhomogenized.
The hot milk is cooled and packaged in such a waythat it is never exposed to air.Blending.7 The jun is injected into large tanks and flavorings, sugar, andvitamins are mixed separately in smaller tanks. Ingredients of thesmaller tank are infused into the larger tanks, thus blending theflavors with the raw milk.Aseptic sterilizing.8 At this point, it is essential that the jun be sealed within theequipment until the end of the manufacturing process (includingpackaging) in order to keep out air and ambient bacteria and germs thatcan grow in low-acid soy milk. Sterilization occurs with pressure andvery hot temperatures within a vacuum for a short period of time.Homogenizing.9 From the sterilizer, the hot milk is sent to the homogenizer. Thisbreaks down the fat particles and prevents them from separating from therest of the mixture. In the homogenizer, which is essentially ahigh-pressure piston pump, the is blended as it is drawn into the pumpcylinder and then forced back out in a repetitive motion.Cooling.10 Next, the hot milk is piped to the cooling tank. Here, the hot milkpasses next to cold plates that lower the temperature of the soy milk toroom temperature.Storing.11 The cooled milk is sent to the aseptic (sealed) tanks and held herein preparation for packaging. Here, the soy milk is refrigerated,pressurized, and sealed to ensure no bacteria thrives in the milk.Packaging.12 A very important part of the production is the aseptic packaging ofthe product.
Packaging machines have been developed for this productthat are able to mechanically package the product without exposing it toair. The cooled milk is sent tothis packaging machine which has a ribbon of flat packaging (cardboard)threaded into it. As the milk runs through the machine, the packagingsurrounds the milk and a cutter cuts through the cardboard packaging andthe milk, simultaneously folding the package and sealing the milk withinit. A machine glues a plastic spout onto the sealed package. From here,the product is sent to an automatic sorter that packs a case and placesit on a pallet. A modern factory is able to produce as many as 18,000packages of soy milk in an hour.Quality ControlQuality control begins with acquiring high quality soybean for theproduction of soy milk. The beans considered most desirable for theprocess are called clear hylem, with a white (or colorless) hylem on thebody of the bean.
While the soybean is generally bland, the clear hylemvariety is considered more flavorful. A number of soy milk producersmarket their product as organic and beans purchased from farmers for soymilk must be certified organic in order to be utilized.The production of soy milk must be meticulously monitored to ensure thatno bacteria grows in the low acid medium.
Thus, many factories includeover 206 quality control checkpoints in this production. Temperatures ofwater, steam, and the monitoring of pressure is essential in this process.In addition, the product is constantly analyzed as a sample of the productis taken off the line every 10 minutes and checked for pH, temperature,and bacterial growth (many samples are cultured). Because the product issealed off from the workers for much of the production, visual checksoccur primarily as the product comes off the line. Here, workers check toensure packages are properly sealed.Byproducts/WasteUntil recently, the unusable okara was a significant waste problem formany soy milk production plants. Okara, the insoluble fiber that isremoved from the raw soy Now, soy milk producers send the okara to adrying machine which takes the moisture out of the okara, transforming itinto a high-fiber, high-protein animal feed. The dried okara is now soldto farmers for feed, thus eliminating a storage and waste problem at mostsoy milk plants.
It has proven to be invaluable to farmers who raiseorganically fed animals because many soy milk producers only take inorganically grown soybeans. Thus, the dried okara feed produced from thesebeans is considered organic and acceptable for feed.
Half a teaspoon serving of Bragg Liquid Aminos has zero calories, 160 mg of sodium representing 6 percent of your daily value and 100 mg of carbohydrates. Additionally, this product contains 310 mg of protein and 16 amino acids, alanine, methionine, arginine, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, proline, glutamic acid, serine, glycine, threonine, histidine, tyrosine, isoleucine, valine, leucine and lysine. Bragg Liquid Aminos contain no chemicals, no artificial coloring, no gluten, no alcohol or preservatives. Additionally, the product has a non-genetically modified organism certification. Bragg advertises this product as a seasoning for salads, soups, dressings, vegetables, tofu, rice, beans, stir-fries, potatoes, poultry, casseroles, meats, jerky, macrobiotics, fish, popcorn, gravies and sauces. The manufacturer also claims that the production process for this product uses non-genetically modified, or non-GMO, soybeans with purified water and the product has received certification from the non-GMO Project. You can use Bragg Liquid Aminos as a substitute for tamari and soy sauces.
Monosodium glutamate is a compound used to enhance the flavor of foods, and you can find MSG in many packaged and processed foods. MSG is a derivative of glutamic acid made through fermentation. Every hydrolyzed protein contains MSG as the MSG is a byproduct of the hydrolyzation process. As a hydrolyzed protein product, Bragg Amino Acids do contain MSG.
MSG acts as a neurotropic drug in your body, meaning it affects your nervous system. Therefore, many individuals have an allergy to products containing MSG.
If you have any allergy to MSG, you should not consume Bragg Amino Acids. Bragg Amino Acids is a processed food product containing 310 mg of protein.
As a source of protein, Bragg Amino Acids has less than 1 percent of your daily recommended protein value. The product does not, however, contain many of the chemicals found in other types of condiments, making this product a reasonably good choice to add flavor to other food items. You should always pay attention to the ingredients listed on the product label, and stop using the product should you experience an allergic reaction to any of those ingredients. Copyright ©2019Leaf Group Ltd.Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the LIVESTRONG.COM,and.The material appearing on LIVESTRONG.COM is for educational use only. It should not beused as a substitute for professional medical advice,diagnosis or treatment. LIVESTRONG is a registered trademark of the LIVESTRONG Foundation.The LIVESTRONG Foundation and LIVESTRONG.COM do not endorseany of the products or services that are advertised on the web site.Moreover, we do not select every advertiser or advertisement that appears on the web site-many of theadvertisements are served by third party advertising companies.