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

This Carver Laboratory fi lm only covers the fi rst half of
1945. Numerous other log books in this accession in the Ford
Archives cover work elsewhere during the 1950s.
Note: This is the earliest document seen (Sept. 2001)
concerning Holton W. (“Rex”) Diamond and soy. Address:
Dearborn, Michigan.
169. Diamond, Holton W. 1945. Excerpts from “Cumulative
Work Report,” George Washington Carver Laboratory–
June 1943 to September, 1945. Dearborn, Michigan. 5 p.
Unpublished manuscript.
• Summary: At some unknown date (after Sept. 1945
and probably before Aug. 1947) “Rex” Diamond wrote a
summary of the work he had done at Henry Ford’s George
Washington Carver Laboratory in Dearborn: 1. Chlorophyll
and its derivatives: Edible and inedible chlorophyll
compounds. 2. Soybean oil. Two types of investigations were
made: (A) Deodorizing and defl avoring. “Experiments were
made to determine the optimum conditions for removing
the unpleasant odor and fl avor from the oil produced at the
Rouge Plant. There were found to be: Temperature of the oil,
140ºC; temperature of the steam, 70-80ºC; pressure, less than
4 inches of mercury; time, 40-60 minutes. (B) Extraction of
oil from wet soybean fl akes following alkaline extraction of
protein.” Only 50% of the oil was recovered in this process
compared with 97% in the extraction of the whole dry fl akes
with hexane. However the fl avor of the oil was better.
3. Gelatinous form of soybean protein. “During
experiments which were directed toward obtaining a ‘soy
cream’ which would not curd in coffee, a ‘protein’ with
phenomenal gelatinous properties was prepared... It was
thought such a ‘vegetable gelatin’ might fi nd use in the food
and pharmaceutical industries... Note 1. This is the earliest
document seen (May 2005) concerning a non-dairy coffee
creamer; in this case it was made with soy protein.
“4. Wheat Milk. Several attempts were made to make
milk by process similar to that used in making soy milk,
but were largely unsuccessful... 5. Peanut Milk. A few
experiments were conducted with peanut protein. One batch
of milk was made, of unpleasant color and fl avor, due to
the inclusion of the red ‘skins’ and the staleness of the nuts
themselves.
“6. Soybean ‘dairy’ products. (A) Soy Milk. Since the
manufacture and development of soy milk is one of the
major projects of the Carver Laboratory, much of my work
has had to do with this product. Investigations were largely
in six general fi elds. (B) Soy Cream. (1) Non-curding cream
for coffee. Quite a large number of experiments have been
made to prepare a ‘soy cream’ which will not ‘curd’ when
used in coffee. These experiments are still proceeding. As
yet, no palatable non-curding cream has been prepared.
(2) Soy whipping cream. Various types of vegetable fats,
emulsifi ers, and proportions of these with ‘skim soy milk’
were tried in seeking a cream that would ‘whip’. ‘Sweetex’
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 89
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fat, manufactured by Procter and Gamble, homogenized at
pressures under 500 pounds per square inch with soy skim
milk makes an acceptable ‘topping’ which ‘whips’ and
resembles whipped cream in appearance. The fl avor of this
product is generally considered to be an improvement over
the fl avor of regular soy milk, probably due to the dilution of
the soy protein with fat and air. [Note 2. No mention is made
of mono- or diglycerides. See Florence Diamond interview
of Dec. 1992.]
“(C) Soy ‘cream cheese’ spreads. Different methods
of chemically ‘souring’ straight 16% soy cream were tried,
using citric acid and calcium chloride as precipitating
reagents, and different combinations of the drained and
pressed precipitate with pimentos, pickles, and other
fl avoring materials were made. A number of different
varieties of ‘cheese spread’ of this sort were made. The
texture and fl avor of these spreads are comparable with the
fl avor and texture of the common spreads made from cow’s
milk.
“(D) Soy ‘Cheddar’ cheese. A number of attempts were
made to prepare an acceptable ‘hard’ or ‘Cheddar’ cheese
from soy milk by chemical souring and mechanical pressing.
In all cases, however, the pressed cake was brittle, with a
tendency to crumble, quite different in texture from ordinary
Cheddar cheese. The fl avor in each case was considerably
inferior to ordinary American cheese.
Note: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Feb. 2007) that uses the term “Soy ‘Cheddar’ cheese”
to refer to a Western-style soy cheese.
“(E) Soy ice cream. (1) Refrigerator tray type. It was
found that by substituting soy topping for whipping cream
and 16% soy cream for coffee cream specifi ed in ordinary
cow’s-milk recipes for refrigerator ice cream, an acceptable
product could be obtained.”
See also Diamond’s “Laboratory Notebook,” starting
Feb. 1945. Address: Dearborn, Michigan.
170. Yami Yogurt. 1945. How Yami Yogurt adds life to your
years and years to your life (Ad). Let’s Live. Sept. p. 7.
• Summary: This display ad (9½ by 2¼ inches) states: “The
famous Russian biologist, Ilya Metchnikoff, Nobel Prize
winner and Director of the Pasteur Institute of Paris, is the
scientifi c father of modern Yami Yogurt... Metchnikoff
strongly recommended Yogurt as the best, natural means to
combat this arch-enemy of man’s health: Excessive Intestinal
Putrefaction.”
“Canada’s health gift to America: Scientists at the
Rosell Bacteriological Dairy Institute at the famous Trappist
Monastery of La Trappe, Canada, have devoted many years
to develop and perfect a scientifi cally correct Yogurt culture.
For a Yogurt is only as good as the culture from which it is
made. By special arrangement with Rosell Institute, Yami
Yogurt has the exclusive American rights to this culture. 15¢
a jar. At leading food stores; and from your Golden State or