history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

Brief chronology / timeline of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus
milk and other cultured soymilks.
There are two basic types of soy yogurt: fermented and
non-fermented. The fermented type is usually made from
soymilk in the same way as a typical dairy yogurt. The
non-fermented type is usually made by blending silken tofu
(sometimes with fruits and other ingredients) until it attains
the smooth consistency of yogurt - but lacks the sourness.
Soy yogurt also comes in both spoonable (typical) and
drinkable consistencies.
1907 Sept. – The Yogurt Company (located in Battle
Creek, Michigan) runs an ad titled “Yogurt: An Invaluable
Remedy,” in Good Health magazine, founded and edited
by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. The company is making and
selling lactic acid dairy yogurt cultures. “Yogurt cures by
driving out the disease-producing germs in the intestinal
tract and substituting a harmless species instead. It is easily
the most valuable remedy ever discovered for Intestinal
Autointoxication.” A package of 4 dozen concentrated
capsules sells for $1.00 postpaid. This is the beginning of
probiotics in the United States, and Dr. Kellogg, a Seventhday
Adventist physician, is the pioneer.
A 3-page article about the ad, titled “A remarkable
discovery,” appears in Naturopath and Herald of Health
(New York City). “This new ferment in concentrated form is
furnished in this country under the name of ‘Yogurt’” (Sept.
1908, p. 269-71).
1910 – The idea of making a yogurt from soymilk is fi rst
conceived of by Li Yu-ying, a remarkable Chinese scientist
and soyfoods pioneer who in late 1910 or early 1911 started
a soyfoods factory named Usine de la Caseo-Sojaine at
Valles, Colombes (near Asnieres, Seine), on the northwest
outskirts of Paris, France. In Dec. 1910 he applied for a
British Patent titled “Vegetable milk and its derivatives.”
There he stated: “For the fermented milk, the special ferment
termed ‘sojabacille’ is employed or other ferments used
for obtaining fermented milks - kephir, yoghourt, koumiss,
maya bulgare, and the like...” His patent (No. 30,275) was
issued in 1912.
1911 June – The world’s earliest known commercial lactic
fermented soymilk is made and sold by Usine de la Caseo-
Sojaine northwest of Paris. It was developed by Li Yu-ying.
But we cannot be sure exactly what kind of fermented
soymilk product it was. Yogurt? Kefi r? Koumiss? Nor do we
know the actual French-language name of the product.
1912 Oct. – The world’s 2 nd earliest known commercial
INTRODUCTION
Copyright © 2012 by Soyinfo Center
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 5
lactic fermented soymilk is made and sold by the Solac
Company (Synthetic Milk Syndicate), 221, Tottenham
Court-road, London W., England. Also: Liverpool, England.
The product is made by Goessel’s patented method. “By
introducing a lactic culture of a selective strain at a certain
stage of its production, the necessary biological activity is
given to the product” (Lancet 1912, Oct. 19, p. 1095; Lancet
1915, Dec. 4, p. 1263-64).
1921 – A Treatise on the Transformation of the Intestinal
Flora with Special Reference to the Implantation of Bacillus
acidophilus, by Leo F. Rettger and Harry A. Cheplin is
published by Yale University Press (v + 135 p.). Rettger is
a professor of bacteriology at Yale. This classic work shows
that benefi cial bacteria, such as Bacterium acidophilus,
can be successfully established in the human intestine by
oral administration. It also contains a good history of the
subject. The excellent bibliography of 174 references shows
that much of the research in this emerging fi eld has been
conducted in Germany.
1929 – Colombo Yogurt, America’s fi rst commercial dairy
yogurt, is made and sold in Andover, Massachusetts by
Rose and Sarkis Colombosian, Armenian immigrants. But
the U.S. yogurt industry remained small until the 1950s and
1960s when the health benefi ts of yogurt gained it a wider
following. In 1993, Colombo Yogurt was purchased by
General Mills.
1932 – Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, in his book How to Have
Good Health Through Biologic Living, writes (p. 209-
10): “Soy milk is of special value in helping to change the
intestinal fl ora. A very superior quality of acidophilus milk
may be prepared from it*.” (Footnote: *”For information,
address Battle Creek Diet Service, Battle Creek, Michigan.”).
This is the earliest document seen that mentions an
“acidophilus milk” made from soy milk, or discusses Dr.
Kellogg’s work with it.
1933 April 18 – An original breakfast menu shows that “soy
milk” and “soy acidophilus” [cultured soymilk] are now
served at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. Only a
vegetarian diet is offered there.
1933 April – Dr. J.H. Kellogg, in an editorial titled “The
Mischievous Colon Bacillus” (Good Health, p. 16), writes:
“There is but one remedy for this grave condition, that is,
change of the protective fl ora by implanting the protective
germ B. acidophilus which by nature is endowed with the
power to suppress the harmful bacteria which invade the
intestine. This is now easily accomplished by means of the