Introduction

The term 'soy' is commonly used to refer to foods or food ingredients derived from the soybean, a type of legume - other legumes include chickpeas, lentils and broad beans.

Soy foods include traditional Asian foods such as tofu, tempeh and miso. More recently, however, a greater variety of soy foods, such as soy beverages, yoghurts, soy cheese, breads, breakfast cereals and meat alternatives like burger patties, soy sausages and sandwich slices have reached supermarket shelves creating greater consumer interest and demand.

For centuries soy foods have been consumed as part of the staple diet, and as an important source of high-quality protein, throughout Asia. These people exhibit low rates of many of the chronic diseases that plague Western civilisation.