So Good Soya Milk

I just had softly softly catchy monkey in my head if you are wondering about the title. Plus I couldnt think of anything but naffness like 'So long and thanks for all the milk' so lumped for the monkey twist.

Why am I writing a review about Soya Milk?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~~~

Not to be 'cool' I can tell you. See I even said the word cool so you can tell im not. Soya milk seems to be in the media alot at the moment as some kind of wonder milk, Even in the new Tesco Ad you see Martine McCutcheon clutching a bottle like its a Balenciaga handbag. In many celeb mags you see articles about why everyone must drink it now! But I started drinking it purely for selfish reasons around 2 years ago.

I suffer from Crohns Disease and after many medications I decided to try and self help. I did the whole chinese herbal tea thing (vile) and then went to Holland & Barretts for a food sensitivity test. Some woman put dots on my hand and told me bluntly I couldnt tolerate strawberries (harumph) or dairy products, in particular Milk. Considering milk makes up half my daily consumption of food/drink i took this quite badly. No one was going to stop me from having my semi skimmed. My weetos just wouldnt be the same without it. But then on our next shopping trip my mum cunningly suggested I just try some Soya milk and see if it tasted any good. From then on I was hooked. I have tried every soya milk going from Alporo to Supermarkets own brand and consider myself quite a pro at rating and comparing them and in my opinion So Good is head and shoulders above the rest. So heres my thoughts.

Whats Soya Milk and Why is it so damn good?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~

Soya Milk is made from Soya Beans. No cow is involved in the making of soya milk. So yey for all vegetarians out there. Soya beans are soaked in water and then grinded into. The resulting liquid is then filtered and hey presto - Soya Milk. Sounds simple doesnt it. Infact I read somewhere you can make your own at home with a soy milk machine. But if your lazy like me its best to buy it in cartons and leave it to the professionals.

It does have a naturally beany taste but that has been improved by manufacturers as the public has latched onto its benefits and the demand for it has risen. You can now get it sweetened or unsweetened. Or infact with different flavours like chocolate, strawberry and banana, not dissimilar to milkshakes.Oils, sugars and stabilizers give the Soya milk the milky appearance that we all love in our cereal bowls on a morning.

It is jam packed with nutrition and vitamins to keep us all healthy and strong. It contains proteins and B - Vitamins which are great for the nervous system. It also doesnt contain any lactose which appeals to the lactose intolerant amongst is or anyone allergic to cows milk. Nor does it contain Wheat or Gluten.

The So Good version of Soya Milk contains the following Vitamins in one 100ml serving.

Vitamin A 15%RDA
Vitamin D 17% RDA
Riboflavin 16% RDA
Vitamin B12 - 10% RDA
Calcium 17% RDA

As I have had to take steroid tablets to control my stomach I have got Osteroperosis in the process. Since having so good my bones are much stronger and I feel noteably alot better. I get about 1/3rd of my daily intake of calcium alone from Soya Milk.

There is low saturated fat and no cholesterol whatsoever in So good so if you are suffering from high blood pressure or heart conditions it can only help you. As it contains Soya Protein it actively lowers bad cholestrol.

It is also Non genetically modified Soya, if this is one of your concerns when buying products this is clearly marked on the packaging.

All in all, you cant go wrong. My crohns, fingers crossed, hasnt suffered a significant flare up since I have eliminated cows milk and changed to so good. I have observed a difference in hair, nail and general skin condition all for the better too.

What does the packaging look like? Where can I find it in a supermarket?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~~

Here goes my only criticism of So Good. I buy the So Good Soya Life which is in 1 litre cartons. This can be found with the long life milk aisle near coffee/tea aisles in almost every supermarket I know.

The packaging is lacklustre. In comparison to other milk packaging I find it drab and boring. It doesnt look appealing whatsoever. There is a picture of a jug of milk and 2 cups of milk on a table. This is surrounded by blue. With the Company Logo at the top and a few bulletin points of the advantages of So Good at the bottom. It doesnt jump off of the shelf at you and may take a bit of looking.

There is a table of nutrition information on the right hand side of the carton with barcode. On the back more health advantages are detailed wit a few suggestions of possible recipes. On the left hand side there are ingrediants listed and contact details for the company who produces it.

It is designed well and is practical and easy to use. It is made of sturdy stuff (tetra pak) and the opening is always secure. To open you have to flip up a small plastic panel (which makes it resealable to keep it fresher longer) and tear off a small foil square.

It doesnt spill everywhere when you pour it out also. Small whoop of joy for us clumsy people everywhere!

So Good can be found in all well known supermarkets and many corner shops and garages alongside normal cows milk.

The packaging is recyclable but unfortunately is it hard to find the facilities that accomodate recycling tetra pak in the UK. They arent common at all which is sad.

What does it smell/taste/look like?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~

I have a cup infront of me merely for testing purposes.

I will let you on to something I read that spurred me onto writing this review. On a womans forum I regularly go to they were all discussing drinking Soya milk. One person who shall remain anonymous complained her boyfriend didnt like the smell of the Soya Milk when it was heated. Why she was asked. She said, and please make sure children arent in the room reading this please....

she said he compared it to the smell of urm *cringes typing this out* semen. Cue me laughing my socks off. My boyfriend has always said the smell reminds him of something but he cant quite put his finger on it. Well now he can!

To be honest the smell has never bothered me much. It is quite distinctive - a sweet sickly kind of smell. But once you are used to tasting soya milk it becomes the norm. Only now and then do the cow drinkers amongst us pretend to put a peg over their nose and go 'ewwwwww'. Get over it!

The taste is delicious. I dont know how I had cows milk for so long. It is slightly sweet but not overpowering or puke inducing.
There is not a hint of that horrid creamy taste that you get from cows milk, it is a smooth, refreshing, distinctive taste that is very moreish. In cereals it tastes delicious and anything you would use cows milk for it can be put into.

The appearance is not far from 'normal' milk. It is the same consistency and almost the same colour except for a slightly darker tone. You could tell it apart if you were making yourself a cuppa and your non soya drinking partner one, which comes in v handy. Sugar dissolves into it as normal, thank the lord.

How much is it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~

For a 1 litre carton it is normally around 95 pence. Although it has been on offer at the moment with a third off making it 66 pence. I have stocked up!

For a 1 litre refridgerated carton it is £1.25. This makes no sense to me so i recommend not getting it chilled and putting it straight into the fridge when you get home. The taste is exactly the same but 30 pence cheaper. Anyone know why?!

In comparison to Cows Milk it is slightly dearer but it is getting cheaper all the time as demand grows.

In comparison to other Soya Milks on the market it is varies slightly ie

Alporo Soya 1 milk refridgerated carton £1.27 (from tesco online at the date of typing)

Tesco Own Brand 1 litre refridgerated carton £0.64 (i have found this milk to go 'off' rather quickly and prefer so good's taste if you are wondering )

Does it stay fresh long? Where do I store it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~~~

The best before date is displayed on top of the carton. I bought one yesterday and the date lasts for another 6 months so it is great to stock up on when on offer.

You can store it in a cupboard before use but once it is opened it needs to be refridgerated and used within 5 days. It is not recommended to be put in a freezer.

When the milk is off you will be able to tell as it goes clumpy when being poured out as if it is curdling and the smell goes rather rank. Throw it away immediately and dont taste it whatever you do!

Why does Soya Milk sometimes go a bit funny in Coffee?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~~~

Now it doesnt happen often but sometimes when you pour soya milk straight into hot coffee it clumps together a bit and floats at the top of the cup so you end up having to throw it away.

After a bit of research I found out that the milk curdles because of the acididty of the coffee as it has a high PH. Effectively making it tofu! So depending on how acidic the coffee is and the alkaline in the milk it may or may not curdle.

The best thing to do is to add more milk and it will neutralise it. Or I find waiting for the water to cool down a bit before adding the milk helps.

I havent found this to be a major problem with So Good and it rarely happens.

The Range of So Good Milks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​~~~~~

There is a new product called 'So Good Essential'

This is fortified with 9 essential vitamins and minerals. But to be honest I found it a bit too watery for my liking so only tried it the once.

Soya Choc

Chocolate flavour Soya Milk available in 1 litre cartons. Great for kids. Tastes scrumptious!

Soya Life

My ultimate favourite, I cant recommend it enough. It is in a long life carton and is packed with all the nutrition and delicious taste you could ever want. Yum Yum.

I am very loyal to this brand and can never see myself going back to normal cows milk after the health benefits I have gained from using So Good. If you are looking for an alternative I advise you to give it a swig!

Contact details for more info

www.sogood123.com

PO Box 202
Peterborough
PE1 1SY
Freephone 0800 328 0423

Copyright cherwaite 2006