This is a big slap in the face for all the vegetarians out there who believe that being a "vegetarian" is one of the healthiest alternatives out there...Well...that's what big business wants you to think:
Hexane remains today the chemical of choice for oil extraction for not just soy but other vegetable oils too, like corn and safflower.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies hexane as a neurotoxin affecting the nervous system of humans and lab animals, based on effects of chronic inhalation. Chronic workplace exposure increases risk for polyneuropathy, a neurological disorder characterized by muscle weakness, nerve damage and visual impairment. The agency cites no studies that have yet looked into the effect of oral exposure, and studies are also lacking to determine hexane’s carcinogenic potential except for one which linked brain tumors to workers exposed to hexane and other chemicals at a petrochemical plant.
Hexane is also regarded as a hazardous air pollutant because it contributes to ground-level ozone, a component of smog. According to Cornucopia, 19 million pounds were released into the air in 2009 from the processing of soybeans and other grains. Furthermore, hexane is highly explosive and has injured or killed both plant workers and tanker truck drivers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not set any restriction on the maximum level of hexane allowed in soyfoods, nor are manufacturers required to measure residues in foods, so how much hexane humans could be exposed to through consumption of processed soyfoods is unknown. The European Union, however, adopted a directive in 2009 targeting residues of solvents used in food processing and set a hexane limit of 10 ppm (parts per million) for food
Source:
http://www.emagazine.com/blog/whats-hiding-in-your-veggie-burger
Comments
I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but all your article proved is that hexane is hazardous and shouldn't be used in oil extraction. :facepalm:
You're going to eat hexane processed oil regardless of your culinary orientation. Pretty much all processed foods have franken-soy and other shitty oils in them.
Cows require land to graze and fart methane, this is why the fuckjob libs are wanting to grow meat in labs. Good luck with that one.
No matter what you will eat shitty food and die, unless you grow it yourself.
Cows require large pastures to eat, that wastes more land than growing vegetables. They also rip big methane farts and burp, which kills the atmosphere (if you believe in that shit). This is why the libs want to grow meat in a lab. Sure, that sounds risk free...
Many processed foods have franken-soy in them now, whether you realize it or not. Vegans who rely on cold-pressed oils and organic foods are only getting about 10% of the shit the rest of us consume.
I was vegan for two years (as an experiment) and stopped because I got too thin. Veganism can't stand on its own because of the lack of B12. That alone shows it cannot be a true self-sufficient lifestyle.
Animals are here to eat, not to be our friends. I'm sick of these fools putting the rights of animals over human beings. It is absolute lunacy.
Ernest Hem ingway
With great power comes great responsibility, I consider having thumbs and a killa brain like mine a great power.