Illinois Inmates Sue Prison For Serving Too Much Soy
From the Chicago Tribune:
Soy-enhanced chili mac, turkey patties with soy, soy-studded country gravy, soy-blend hot dogs, soy-spiked sloppy joes, Polish sausages packed with soy, soy chicken patties.
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These aren’t items from the latest vegetarian diet, but rather dishes served over a week at Danville Correctional Center, according to a recent menu.
They’re also the basis of a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this summer by nine plaintiffs who allege that the Illinois Department of Corrections is endangering the health of the inmates — especially those with allergies, sensitivities and existing gastrointestinal and thyroid problems — by serving them too much soy.
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Tens of thousands of inmates in Illinois prisons are being fed “up to 100 grams” of soy protein a day, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is funding the lawsuit. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming about 25 grams of soy protein per day.
Based in Washington, D.C., the foundation promotes the consumption of whole, traditional and largely unprocessed foods. Foundation president Sally Fallon called the soy diet served in Illinois prisons “the Tuskegee of the 21st century,” referring to the syphilis experiments performed on African-Americans from the 1930s to ’70s.
“Never before have we had a large population like this being served such a high level of soy with almost no other choice,” she said.
