One challenging area surrounding a soy free diet, particularly when eating out, or dining with friends, is the ‘oil’ factor! I have described some issues with regard to this below:
VEGETABLE OIL (AN UNREALISED SOURCE OF SOY):
Oil has become such an essential item for the purpose of meeting our cooking needs in today’s society! From grilling to making sauces to deep frying, all our foods are laden with many different forms of this essential ‘food-enhancing’ product. Some industries use olive, others use canola.
A surprising Source of Soy lies right in this Bottle
One mainstream cooking oil, however, that has become problematic to a number of soy/soya-allergic and intolerant individuals is generic vegetable oil. One from the Crisco brand in Australia is pictured to the right! Although this term can be used interchangeably between canola, sunflower and olive oils, many do not realise that the word ‘vegetable‘ in terms of describing an ‘oil’ is in fact, almost always used as a substitute for the food product soy. In other words, household ‘vegetable oil’ usually contains soybean oil (check ingredients on back of oil container!!). This is mainly due to the fact that it is the cheapest most widely used form of cholestrol-free vegetable oil in today’s society!
Canola oil works well as a substitute and quality restaurants and food service outlets have, in recent years, switched to using canola oil for all their cooking due to this common allergen concern as soy is a major ingredient in vegetable oil! Individuals allergic/intolerant to soy should avoid this cooking aid at all costs, and although various medical practitioners and naturopaths claim that refined soybean oil (i.e. vegetable oil) is safe for individuals with soy allergies (due to the fact that it has been processed to remove the ‘proteins’), much remains unknown about long-term complications associated with continual consumption of minor soy sources within a soy free diet. Stick with canola and oils of non-’vegetable’ origin.
[Edited to add: ---THE FOLLOWING ITALIC TEXT IN THIS PARAGRAPH APPLIES TO AUSTRALIA ONLY---
Under the Australian food law, soy must be declared in the ingredient listing whenever used, however small the amount. If you see vegetable oil listed in the ingredients, and the source is unidentified, be assured that this does not suggest that soy may be present. If the commercial vegetable oil used does or may contain soybean oil it will be declared (i.e. vegetable oil (may contain soy) or vegetable oil (soy)). The term 'vegetable oil' is used interchangeably within the Australian food manufacturing industry and usually appears this way in ingredients if a blend (often sunflower and canola oil in Australia) has been used. Hope this helps clear things up!]
COOKING SPRAY (ANOTHER UNRECOGNISED SOY SOURCE):
Canola Oil Spray - A hidden source of soy!
Cooking spray contains oil and a propellant mixture used for the purpose of evenly dispensing liquid on the surface to which it is applied. Most cooking oils, particularly canola, do not bind with such propellants by themselves. (Olive oil is generally an exception in this regard, hence many olive oil sprays on the market don’t contain soy!) As a result, an emulsifying (binding) ingredient needs to be added to blend the propellent with the oil. The spray, pictured right, is one of many typical canola cooking sprays on the market manufactured by Gold ‘N Canola, containing Canola Oil, Soy Lecithin, and various propellants.
And that’s where that cheeky ingredient, soy lecithin, comes to play, binding the two together (i.e. canola oil and added propellants), generally at a level between 3% and 7%.
Thankfully, living here in Oz, it is often fairly easy to find a soy-free alternative or two for such products. Though this tends to be time consuming as products are not labelled soy free like they are ‘gluten free’. It especially seems evident that if you see something that contains soy lecithin, chances are similar products will also contain soy lecithin and finding a soy lecithin alternative of that product is often an extremely un-satisfyingly, time-consuming and daunting task!
THE DISCOVERY OF A SOY FREE COOKING SPRAY:
The good news, and I’m really excited about it, is that Alfa One (a New Zealand old fashioned foods company) is now selling a Rice Bran Oil Cooking Spray here in Australia! It is the only one I have found that is soy free! I bought some just the other day to try out and I shall say it out loud for all to hear, ‘Use up that last canola cooking spray bottle and SWITCH TO THIS PRODUCT, NOW!’. I do not say this with any intention of trying to stray people away from soy industry (even though I’m allergic to it and don’t really see how it’s so useful in everything) but the reason I am so keen on this product is because it actually WORKS! And it works well, too. Far better than any other cooking spray I’ve ever seen or tried in my life 
! This product is worth every penny extra, doesn’t add a nasty rough coating to plates (making dishes easy to wash) and comes out clear. There’s no ugly foamy residue expelled from this product at all, just like many olive oil sprays. Rice bran oil seems to blend naturally with the propellant, whereas canola oil and other vegetable oils (other than certain olive oil blends) need additional products to make them ‘work’!
I'm Amy Backs (aka Gluten Free, Soy Free Aussie) and am allergic to soy as well as being coeliac. This blog is primarily devoted to me telling of my lifestyle as well as providing tips, recipes, food suggestions and more particularly to assist those with soy allergies. I know of many with even more restrictive diets than myself, with multiple intolerances lurking in society, and am also keen to hear of your experiences (wherever you may be). 
