Wow! I am 39 and was diagnosed this year with an overactive thyroid, put on medication and told to stay away from too much iodine. I have been using Bonsoy for several years and all our family uses it on cereal in the mornings. I have always the thought the expense was well justified given that cows milk has several of its own hazards!

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) three weeks ago and I have been drinking bonsoy and vitasoy original (which also contains kombu) all year and I have a very high level of iodine in me. I actually spent the night in hospital last night because of it... I am a 14 year old vegan so bonsoy was the only milk I drank, but now I have changed to rice milk.

I drink alot of Bonsoy, sometimes we go through a litre a day. I have been very unwell for the past 4 months and was Diagnosed with a Thyroid Flush - Thyrotoxicosis or Thyrosis. I am still on Heart medication to slow the Heartbeat down as it was going overboard 24 hours a day. My Thyroid counts were off the charts when diagnosed T4's were greater than 75 and T3's were greater than 30, they don't register above these levels. I have been very very sick and was off work for 2 months, then a gradual return. To hear that BonSoy can cause this today, I am dumbfounded and will be contacting Spiral Foods in the future.

Spiral Foods is actually recalling ALL Bonsoy up to dates of 2011...so it is just not a particular date as suggested above.

I have been using Bonsoy for around two years. I have previously had two thyroidectomies and so I am on thyroid replacement. In the last 18 months I have had problems with my thyroxine levels for the first time since my second surgery. I have been feeling quite unwell for several months now and so I am off to the doctor after Christmas. Interestingly, the coffee shop I frequent who uses Bonsoy served it to me yesterday, AFTER the recall was issued. I can't have any confidence in information that Spiral Foods issues at the moment.

I Don't trust Spiral and Bonsoy any longer.
Organic food company? How about a little bit more of information?
I did search and Couldn't find anything, so I can assume they are taking time with their PR team to come up with something?!
@abrennan this is not hysteria - it's about consumers feeling concerned about our kids and our health.
Yes, if you call concern hysteria I consider myself being hysteric with lack of information and lack of respect from Spiral foods.
Big no no for Bonsoy and anything related to Spiral from now on.
Michelle

I am the media spokesman for Spiral Foods,the importer of Bonsoy. We have had a Media Announcement on the web site since Christmas Eve.Spiral Foods is committed to the highest standards of product quality which is why we have initiated this voluntary recall. We are cooperating fully and closely with Health Authorities after being notified of this issue, which we take seriously. Retailers have been notified to remove all Bonsoy products. Consumers should not use this product until further notice. Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice. Please take your Bonsoy to the place of purchase for a full refund. We are hoping to have Bonsoy back on the shelves as soon as possible.We apologise to our loyal customers and ask for your patience. Please visit www.spiralfoods.com.au/main_frame.html for the link to the media release.

I've always used bonsoy as I've always regarded it as the best on the market even though I'd prefer to buy an Australian-made product. I have been feeling a bit lethargic and vague over the past couple of months but whether that's due to consuming bonsoy is not clear at this stage- I'm planning to get a blood test asap. What confuses me is that the Japanese consume large amounts of seaweed often exceeding a daily intake of 50,000mcg and yet are the healthiest and longest living race in the world with one of the lowest incidences of cancer.It seems that iodine "deficiency" is by far a more serious health concern.Maybe they should send all this recalled bonsoy to those countries where iodine deficiency is a major health problem and give them half a glass a day!

ckayel, please remember this is not a problem with soy, it is a problem with Kombu - a seaweed added to the milk. Not all soy milk has this, in fact most don’t. Soy milk is far healthier than other alternatives (e.g Dairy). I would recommend trying Aldi's brand soy milk - to me it tastes exactly like Bonsoy and is also organic - with NO added seaweed and much cheaper than Bonsoy too. We drink it by the slab at our place.

I just woud like to know, if any of the persons that posted comments and fell ill with thyrid poblems, also consume a lot of fish in their diet or take fish oil etc.

I am just trying to figure out if diet and eating habit may have contributed to high iodine levels

rob

cykayel comments below were exactly what my brother went through, put the whole family through hell . this company should pay for all the pain and suffering it has put us through. How on earth did this product get approval to be sold in the first place.

"I spent a lot of time & money with doctors & alternative therapists as I was just not well! Earlier this year (2009) my heart was racing and after a stress test, ended up in hospital with suspected heart problems which were discounted after an angiogram"

A healthy daily iodine intake is about 80-150 micrograms for adults.

Testing found drinking just one-eighth of a cup of Bonsoy, which is imported from Japan and contains seaweed, would exceed the daily safety limit of 1,100 micrograms, FSA spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said.

“These are extremely high levels,” she told AAP

Hi Rob and everybody else.
I do not consume much fish at all in my diet and my diet is quite healthy with take away foods very minimal and I drink BonSoy due to being asthmatic and dairy triggers asthma.
My health issues which have been diagnosed as extremely high levels of thyroid hormone in the body, being a mystery cause to specialists.
Everybody that is concerned with their health should ask their local doctor to ask for a Thyroid function test and include thyroid hormone count in the test. The Thyroid function test will show their levels of T4's and T3's which are the hormones that control your bodies metabolism.
If you've got the symptoms of a racing heart rate, weight loss, lack of energy, etc. ask for this blood test to be done and normally results come back within 2 days.
There is no medication to treat an overactive thyroid when it's cause by a mass release of hormones and your thyroid tests to be functioning correctly, the only treatment that works is taking beta blockers to eliminate the effects from stimulating your heart and reduce your heart rate back to normal levels.

Also, in an above message "mal maru" regarding Spiral Foods only being the importer and trying to shift everyones attention over to Japan, don't think so....
In Australia, the responsibility lies with the importer of a product, hence if they've imported and distributed a product that has caused health problems, I believe legal action would then be taken against the importer. I will be looking into this further for sure, anybody that would like to add to this, please do so.

Thanks
Kind Regards
Kris

Not only would I be concerned about iodine in fish, but mercury also. Apparently A study that set out to determine how many of the fish in our nation’s streams are contaminated with mercury came back with an ominous answer: quite possibly, all of them. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey sampled 34 species of fish at 291 stream sites across the country, and found mercury in every single fish they found.

A quarter of the fish had mercury levels that are considered unsafe for people who eat fish regularly, according to the Interior Department.

Mercury can impair a person’s memory, ability to learn, and behaviour; it can also damage the heart and immune system. Even in small quantities, this heavy metal can cause birth defects in fetuses exposed in the womb and in breast-fed newborns whose mothers’ milk is laced with it.

Would be much safer to have flax seed oil rather than fish / fish oil any day.

I would also like a comment from Spiral re whether this problem is isolated to one batch or whether it is a long standing (but presumably only recently detected) problem. If it is long standing then it would make it much clearer in my mind that the thyroid problems I am experiencing (and which have given enough health concerns to cause me to knock back a wonderful career opportunity) are likely to be due to drinking Bonsoy...

Response to Anthony, spokesperson for Spiral:

The media release issued by Spiral is notable only for what it does NOT say! It doesn't give any indication of the health effects of excessive iodine, and in particular doesn't mention the thyroid. It just makes iodine sound like a pretty benign "naturally occurring substance." What a smooth bit of PR spin! It's really appalling in its lack of information and minimisation of the problem.

My daughter was a regular Bonsoy drinker, and was diagnosed with Grave's Disease 6 months ago. Not only that, she has a 9 month old son, whom she is still breastfeeding. She visited her doctor today, after hearing about the recall purely by chance. Her doctor had not heard anything about it. The doctor telephoned a couple of the major hospitals here in Melbourne to seek advice, and no-one she spoke to had heard of it either.

Incidentally, my daughter also visited a coffee shop while she was out today, and they were still serving Bonsoy!!

What an unconscionable situation! What an ineffective recall! Shame on Spiral!!!!! More interested in covering their corporate a**s than helping people who may have suffered physical injury due to their product.