Got Soy?

Always on the lookout for different products to review, I like to think that I’ve developed a fairly keen eye for new arrivals on the grocery store shelves. Trips to the store some times become games, seeing if I can pick out each change that has occurred to the consumable landscape since last I visited. Lest I lead you to think that I while away my daylight hours prowling the dusty aisles of canned goods, there is rarely enough time to wade through such a vast array of neatly stacked packages. In fact, most food shopping expeditions could be just as easily called grocery runs, as looming appointments and deadlines force me to sprint to the checkout line to create something like a meal that evening. I usually try not to literally run through the store, my cart plowing through the sluggish shoppers and senior citizens in my way, but I won’t say this never happens.

Just such a grocery run was completed not too long ago, having scoured the empty cabinets for a snack to no avail. Barreling through produce and processed junk, I chanced to look up as I stooped down, reaching blindly into the selections of milk alternatives. From the steep angle in which I observed, all I could discern from the scene was that there was something different on the top shelf. Nothing more, nothing less.

Without a second to spare, this thought was promptly lost amid the rush to get home and promptly discarded. Accomplishing the main objective of grabbing last minute supplies, nothing could have been further from my mind than writing up any new food reviews that day.

Upon my return at a less manic time, I slowed my pace and took notice of an unfamiliar label nestled in among my standard selection of soymilks. Suddenly remembering the alien object I had previously spotted as if in some forgotten dream, I knew it had to be one and the same.

With little more identification than the title of “soy milk” emblazoned on the front in a cheerful royal blue, I wasn’t sure what to make of this newcomer. Advertising itself only as heart-healthy, I doubted it had anything more to offer than the other cartons of milky soy-products already on the shelf. Finding the simplicity of the design aesthetically appealing nonetheless, my natural impulse was to take it home and give it a fair trial, regardless of its questionable content.

Extending an open hand to seize this find, I froze abruptly as my eyes focused in on the price marked directly below it. Compared to the generic store brands that I tend to favor, this plain-Jane container may as well have been filled with liquid gold! Without being able to predict its staying power in such a competitive market, I’ll just have to hope that it lasts long enough for me to try it at a later date, perhaps when the costs justify the risk of adventuring away from my tried and true soy.