With the Fourth of July around the corner and cookouts galore being planned, it's a good idea to pay close attention to the meat you may be served. Do you know if it's the real thing, or merely a mix of health-harming processed soy products? Thanks to a new process unveiled this week at a food technology conference in Orlando, you may not be able to tell the difference...

Solecina, a patent-pending "invention" in the making over a decade by Solae LLC, combines soy, meat and vegetable protein to produce either a "hybrid" meat -- part fake, part real -- or an "improved" meatless product that tastes and has the consistency of cooked, whole muscle meat.

The move to Frankenstein-like hybrid foods made partly from soy wasn't a total surprise, as the "meat substitute" industry -- all those soy burgers and fake bacon products you see in the frozen foods section at your corner grocery store -- had been stagnating.

Remember, non-fermented soy products like the ones Solae has developed contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid that can harm your health, fertility and, in some cases, your heart.

MSNBC June 27, 2006

Truth About Trade and Technology June 28, 2006