OK, so this won’t affect my inability to eat M&Ms or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups without breaking out, but I had a revelation this weekend, during a tour of the Theo Chocolate Factory in Fremont.
Unlike the pure, organic, fair trade Theo, most “chocolatiers” mix additives with their cacao. Additives such as SOY LECITHIN. I’d already made the connection I have some kind of allergy to soy … but it had not occurred to me that soy was the culprit in M&Ms and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
So far, Sunday’s sampling of many delicious varieties of Theo, my favorite being coconut curry, has not resulted in any disfiguring acne. My experiment may be flawed, because I was served a black bean and chipotle Gardenburger for dinner last night (containing soy protein, but way down on the list of ingredients) and I made a stir fry with some low-sodium soy sauce last week.
It seems that small quantities of soy are OK. Edamame and tofu are out. Of course, it’s very difficult to consume only small quantities of chocolate, which is why I don’t know if it would be safe to eat, say, 10 M&Ms.
I really would have liked to have eaten a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg this Easter, though.
Kari Neumeyer 