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Here are live links for sites mentioned in the April 2007 .pdf format:

"Are you concerned about the safety of soy?" by Bryanna Clark Grogan
"What about soy?" by John Robbins

Vegan references
recommended by Natalie K. Parks

Information

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health, by T. Colin Campbell
Diet for a New America, by John Robbins
The New Becoming Vegetarian: The Essential Guide to a Healthy Vegetarian Diet, by Vesanto Melina

Cooking

One woman did not like soy milk at all. "A lot of them smell like flour and water," she commented, "which is not really appetizing, especially after using flour and water as paper maché."

One homemade batch was added to the panel and generally disliked, getting comments such as "beany," "chalky," "yuck." Again a matter of preference, but also perhaps proving that when you make your own you can adjust for taste.

How soy milk is used must also be taken into consideration. Some use it in coffee or hot cocoa, pour it on cereal, or stir it into recipes.

All tasters said drinking several brands side-by-side was an excellent way to decide on a personal favorite, though most agreed that they would stick with their favorite brand.

These are only a few of the many brands and varieties of soy milk available on store shelves, but they are representative. Information is presented here only to show how brands differ and to give you an opportunity - from the comfort of your home - to decide what you think is important to look for when you shop at your local store.

A little history, however, before you begin comparison shopping. (Thanks to soyfoods.org.)

An ancient Chinese mural is thought to prove that soy milk has been around since A.D. 25, while a Chinese poem penned about A.D. 1500 is believed to be the first written reference. In the United States, the first mention was made in a medical journal in 1896, and by 1917 soy milk was being produced commercially in New York City. After researchers found ways to make soy milk more palatable for the average American (more than 80 English-language patents on soy milk were issued between 1913 and 1992), its popularity began to soar in the 1970s.