Dairy substitutes - soy milk, oat milk, hemp milk, and rice milk

Food Products

Malnutrition Matters is focusing its efforts on a number of nutritious plant sources for which reliable food processing technologies are available, and promotes the use of inexpensive technology for processing these foods into healthy, value-added products. We have developed and continue to develop, innovative, inexpensive technologies for processing some of these foods. For example, the VitaGoat is a versatile system which can produce many dry or aqueous foods, without the need for electricity or running water, making it ideal for rural or small village environments (see the "VitaGoat" section). The plant products being processed are either locally available and inexpensive when in season, or are generally easy to grow and cultivate, and are nutritious, either in protein, micronutrient, fiber or even type of fat content. The fruits and vegetables have micronutrients such as Vitamins A and C and a host of other natural plant compounds that are key elements for the maintenance of good health.

Soya is a staple protein source in most Asian countries, and has been for over a thousand years. Soy foods have now also entered the mainstream market in western countries. Recent medical studies have shown that soy contains many phytochemicals (natural plant compounds) that can prevent or alleviate the symptoms of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis and other ailments. Soya is the only plant to have all eight essential amino acids with adequate nutritional balance. The whole seed, including undissolvable fiber, can be used to make a wide variety of foods. In particular, soy has proven to be an excellent alternative to dairy products, especially soymilk and derivatives such as tofu, yogurt, and other products. See the Soya Dairy Foods Guide (download from the VitaGoat Intro page) for numerous recipes and health-related information. These products can be consumed fresh, without the need for refrigeration, can be bottled (sterile) to enable a long shelf life without refrigeration or can be packaged and / or refrigerated to enable longer shelf life and distribution.

Fruits and Vegetables such as mangoes, tomatoes, papayas, cassava and others can also be used as raw food input for such technology. In this case the output is soups, purees, nectars, spreads, juices and other products that can be produced quickly, for immediate consumption or for preserving and packaging (or naturally dried products as outlined below). They may also be blended with soy or other primary inputs. A diet high in fruits and vegetables is recommended by all nutritionists for alleviating or helping to prevent a host of health ailments. Natural plant phytochemicals (for example lycopene from tomatoes) are now commonly considered as having specific disease prevention or curative benefits. A fruit and vegetable dryer currently being tested will enable natural drying of these same fruits and vegetables, without the need for preservatives, which will extend the shelf-life of the products and retain virtually all of the vitamin and micro-nutrient content.

Cereals and Grains including rice and locally available staples such as corn, millet, sorghum and others can be processed with the equipment. These can either be blended in a semi-liquid solution to make nutritious cooked gruels and pastes, or they can be dry milled to create coarse meal or flour.

Nuts and Beans such as peanuts, coffee or roasted soybeans can be ground to yield peanut butter, ground coffee, or soy coffee respectively. Many other nuts or beans (roasted or raw) can also be processed, savings countless hours of backbreaking manual labour conventionally used to grind or mash these foods. These products can be processed with the pedal-driven cycle grinder only and do not require cooking, so do not need the boiler or cooker components that the other value-added foods need.

Health Benefits:

The SoyCow/VitaCow/VitaGoat can process nutritious, locally available foods that can be consumed immediately or further sterilized (using the same equipment) for longer shelf life (up to one year at room temperature). This means that foods are processed when they are fresh and nutrient-rich, and will not spoil or deteriorate. Soy foods are very high in protein and are a much less expensive way to consume adequate protein levels as opposed to other products such as meat, eggs or fish.

Example of Protein Needs and Soy Foods.

The average healthy adult needs approx. 0.8 g of "high-quality" protein for every kg of body weight. These requirements go up for infants (up to 2 g per kg), adolescents (up to 1.2 g per kg) and pregnant women. Protein deficiency (PD) can cause a host of ailments that can progress slowly or quickly, depending on how healthy or sick the individual is. PD can be mild or severe, and affects up to 70 % of the children in some developing countries. Soya is comprised of "high-quality" protein, that which the body most easily digests, and is the only plant to have all essential amino acids in adequate proportion.

Each liter of soymilk contains approx. 25-30 g of protein and each kg of tofu, approx. 100-135 g.

*This table assumes a 300ml soymilk serving and a 150 g tofu serving:

Recent research has also shown that cooking can increase the nutrition of certain vegetables (such as carrots and tomatoes). In addition the products produced with the system have been sterilized beyond pasteurization temperatures, and so the water and food do not harbor parasites or other harmful microorganisms