In a spirit of adventure I tried tofu skins the other day. Searching through the numerous options at our large Asian market, it looked like we found one that didn’t have the California lead advisory statement on the package - but later found one buried in the fine print.
We ate them anyway, and really like them, but wonder why they have lead. Internet searches so far haven’t yielded any answers.
Does anyone here know why they contain lead?
PS / TIL: tofu skins apparently are not be confused with tofu curls.
Soybeans and many other vegetables will pull in trace amounts of lead from the soil. There is probably some amount of lead in most/all soy products (as well as many other products).
California’s lead threshold for prop-65 warning is 0.5 µg/day. From what I gather, this is a very very low threshold.
Private citizens in California can sue and collect damages against companies selling products that should have a prop 65 warning but don’t. This has created a bit of an industry of citizens who go out, buy random products, test them for prop 65 chemicals, and if they find a violation get themselves a reward. From what I remember reading, Asian markets/producers are a very popular target.
This leads to a lot of companies putting labels on their product just to cover their asses. With such a low threshold for labeling and the fact that soybeans can contain lead, it seems to me to be smart business to always put that label on soy products because you might get a batch of soybeans that put your product over the threshold and get yourself sued. My hunch is that there is just as likely to be lead in the prop-65 labeled tofu as the non-labeled stuff and the difference comes down the to producers risk tolerance (or awareness).