Soybeans

Eating tofu and other soybean products can significantly reduce cholesterol levels, scientists said Wednesday. Six weeks to three months of substituting soybeans for animal proteins cut total blood cholesterol by an average of 9.3%, a University of Kentucky team reports in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers analyzed 38 previous clinical studies with a total of 740 subjects, going back 18 years.

Far from his Pasadena home, nutritionist Steven Kwon stood before Afghan government officials and agronomists in Kabul three years ago, extolling the virtues of protein-rich soybeans as a way to curb the rampant malnutrition in the war-torn nation. The tension rose as one skeptic asked whether soybeans would generate as much money as poppies that produce opium. "The way he asked the question was very cynical," said the 60-year-old Kwon.

The maker of Kentucky Fried Chicken announced Monday that it would deep-fry most of its menu items without trans fat, saying it had found a soybean oil that could produce more-healthful fare while maintaining the taste long promoted as "finger lickin' good." KFC Corp.'s menu changes, scheduled to be phased in by next April, won praise from health advocates, who said it would force other major fast-food purveyors, such as McDonald's Corp., to make similar moves.

Soybean prices may be headed for their biggest jump in three decades as farmers plant more fields with corn. Growers in the U.S. are preparing to sow the fewest acres of soybeans in 10 years. At the same time, demand is rising, creating conditions that traders say may double this year's average price of $5.98 a bushel and allow soybeans to replace corn as the best-performing farm commodity.

Honda Motor Co. expects to set an export record this year -- in the soybeans it returns to Japan in containers that arrived in the U.S. filled with spare parts. In the shadow of its Marysville auto plant, the company processes 550 bushels of soybeans each hour that end up as tofu and soy sauce. The automaker expects to sell a record 1 million bushels this year and is hunting new markets in Australia. The company says potential customers in Europe and Thailand have expressed interest.

Prices for U.S. corn and soybeans will sink to stressful levels under the weight of the second mammoth harvest in a row, the government forecast Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated a corn stockpile of 2.22 billion bushels at the end of this marketing year, the largest corn surplus in 18 years. At 260 million bushels, the soybean carry-over would be the largest in six years. On the heels of records set last year, the USDA pegged the corn crop at 10.

Soy protein, which has been recommended to menopausal women as a substitute for hormone replacement therapy, did not fend off symptoms such as bone loss in a study of Dutch women released Tuesday. Naturally occurring compounds called isoflavones found in soybeans are thought to mimic estrogen compounds in hormone replacement therapy. Some women want to avoid hormone therapy because recent studies have shown long-term use can raise the risk of stroke, dementia and some forms of cancer.

The first U.S. cases of the fungus soybean rust, which hinders plant growth and drastically cuts crop production, were found at two research sites in Louisiana, officials said Wednesday. The wind-borne spores are suspected to have blown in from South America during the hurricane season and were found after the bulk of the state's soybeans had been harvested, state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom said.

A U.S. government test confirmed that highly contagious soybean rust had infected a field in Arkansas, the sixth state found to be infected in less than two weeks, the University of Arkansas agriculture division said in Fayetteville. University officials said the infected soybean sample was from a large commercial field in Crittenden County in northeast Arkansas.