Soy tasting good about right now

Dear Editor: For those of you freaking out over the news that DNA tests revealed that Subway’s chicken is actually half soy (which Subway is denying), relax. If you’ve unwittingly been eating soy all this time, you should count yourself lucky.

Chicken is, not to mince words, gross. Tests by Consumer Reports revealed 97 per cent of supermarket birds are contaminated with salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, staphylococcus aureus, and other disease-causing bacteria. And that bacteria is increasingly antibioticresistant, thanks in part to the common industry practice of feeding chickens low doses of antibiotics as growth promoters.

Consumer Reports also found that more than half of the chicken samples tested were contaminated with feces: The chilled water that chicken carcasses are dumped into during butchering has been called “fecal soup” because so much feces from chickens’ bodies accumulates in it.

Soy is sounding pretty good right about now, isn’t it? In addition to containing beneficial isoflavones that can help prevent heart disease and cancer, soy is cholesterol-free and low in saturated fat and calories. Perhaps best of all, soy-based chicken from Gardein, Beyond Meat, and other vegan-friendly companies tastes great. Go ahead, try it — you’ll wonder why you didn’t switch sooner. Alisa Mullins PETA Foundation Norfolk, Virginia