SOY'S NEW COMPETITION: HEMP

Breads, Bars And Milk Are Flying Off The Shelves, But Excitement Is
Outpacing Evidence

Like a bloodhound, Gira Balistreri is racing through the palatial
Whole Foods Market in El Segundo, sniffing out some of her favorite foods.

A new employee at the 65,000-square-foot flagship store, she goes
directly to several shelves of hemp shakes and snacks, then trots
over to tidy rows of hemp butter and oil, then rushes down an aisle
and snaps up a fresh package of hemp tortillas on her way to the hemp
bars, hemp bread and hemp bagels.

"Hemp," she says excitedly, "is just an awesome seed."

Balistreri isn't alone in her devotion. In the last two years, sales
of hemp food products in markets and grocery stores rose by more than
50%, propelling the unassuming seed to an $8.6-million industry,
according to SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the
natural products industry.

Hemp foods began filtering into grocery stores about five years ago,
after the 1998 legalization of industrial hemp farming in Canada. The
U.S. currently prohibits commercial cultivation of industrial hemp,
but allows the import of seeds, oil, flour and other byproducts to be
manufactured into ready-to-eat foods in the U.S.

The plant's shelled seed, or nut, can be added to baked goods and
nutritional supplements and bars, sprinkled onto other foods such as
salads and yogurt, or eaten alone as a snack. The seed can also be
milled into flour, which can be used for baked goods, and pressed to
make oil, which can be used in salad dressings, dips, spreads and
sauces. (Due to its high unsaturated fat content, hemp oil must be
refrigerated and is unsuitable for frying.)

There are hundreds of hemp foods now available online and on
supermarket shelves, says Robin Rogosin, a certified nutritionist and
buyer for Whole Foods Market. Rogosin estimates that the chain's
selection has tripled in the last year. Hemp milk, the newest
addition, is flying off the shelves, she says.

"We're shipping truckloads -- 60,000 liters of it so far," confirms
Mike Fata, president and co-founder of Canada's Manitoba Harvest,
which introduced Hemp Bliss milk in March.

Living Harvest, an Oregon-based hemp food manufacturer, is
forecasting just under $5 million in sales in 2007 -- a three-fold
increase from 2006, largely due to sales of its own hemp milk
product, Hempmilk, company President Christina Volgyesi says.

Hemp appeals to consumers for several reasons. It can be used as an
alternative to soy products such as soy milk, which some people can't
tolerate. Some people find hemp foods tasty. (We'll get to that in a
minute.) Others are attracted to hemp's nutritional value. This may
be its strongest draw.

The runty little nut, which resembles a sesame seed, does pack some
stellar nutrients.

Two tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds contains 11 grams of protein,
no cholesterol and, most important, about 2 grams of the very
healthful unsaturated omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

Hemp oil also contains a good ratio -- roughly 3 to 1 -- of omega-6
fatty acids to omega-3s, says Barry Swanson, a professor in the food
science and human nutrition department at Washington State University.

"That is an exceptional ratio, as far as balance is concerned,
between omega 6s and omega 3s," Swanson says.

Further, he says, hemp has other good constituents: "The
gamma-linoleic acid [an omega-6] and stearidonic acid [an omega-3] in
hemp are both things our body needs more of, that don't occur in very
many food products."

In short, the hemp seed is one healthy nut, and these days you can
get it in hemp waffles, hemp ale, hemp lattes and hempacinos. Hemp
lovers see the seed as an emerging health food superstar, but Roger
Clemens, associate director of regulatory science at USC School of
Pharmacy, says some of the excitement may be overblown.

Although preliminary research suggests that the fatty acids in hemp
may reduce risk of cardiovascular events similar to better-studied
oils such as fish oil or olive oil, compelling evidence is not yet
in, he says. And, he adds, the ALA omega-3 in hemp is not the same as
the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil, which have been shown to be
heart-healthy.

ALA does convert into EPA or DHA in the body-- but very
inefficiently, at a rate of about 1%, Clemens says.

In addition, although hemp contains essential amino acids, the
quality of the protein in hemp, though digestible, doesn't measure up
to that of soy, he says.

One ingredient that hemp foods don't contain is
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found
in marijuana, says Lawrence Kushi, an epidemiologist and researcher
at Kaiser Permanente, Northern California.

Industrial hemp is a different strain from its bad-boy sibling in the
Cannabis sativa family and contains no meaningful amounts of THC.
"You're certainly not going to get high off it," Kushi says.

Despite assurances by manufacturers that hemp foods are THC-free,
Clemens, who oversaw USC's drug screening program for five years,
suggests college or professional athletes stay away from hemp foods.

"There is some suggestion in the medical literature that when the
oils and the proteins in hemp are isolated, there could be some THC
contamination," he says.

Gero Leson, an environmental scientist, food researcher and
scientific advisor to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, disagrees.

"In the late 1990s, when hemp seeds were still imported from China,"
he says, "contaminated seeds and oil could contain up to 50 to 100
parts per million THC. Now, virtually all of the hemp foods sold in
the U.S. are made from low-THC varieties and contain only minuscule amounts."

These levels are not detectable in a urine sample, he says.

Citing hemp's nutritional value, Jasper Blake thinks the
unprepossessing nut has contributed to his success as a professional
triathlete. He's been using hemp products for about six years -- 2 to
4 tablespoons of hemp nuts and about a tablespoon of hemp oil on
average daily, as well as occasional protein powder.

The 2006 Ironman Canada champion (who receives free hemp products
from Living Harvest, but no compensation) estimates that he has been
tested for THC about 10 times since adding hemp to his diet and has
never tested positive for the drug.

Whether hemp fare sticks around or fades into obscurity may depend on
something that trumps versatility and nutritional benefits. "People
are very interested in nutritional food," says Living Harvest's
Volgyesi, "but in the end it has to taste good. It's all about the taste."

Ah yes, the taste. Hemp nuts taste a little like sunflower seeds,
slightly crunchy and delicately flavorful -- addictive even, to some palates.

Ready-to-eat-foods made from the nuts are a mixed bag of flavors and
textures -- ranging from reasonably good to impressively awful --
depending on the product and one's taste.

Someone accustomed to dense wheat-free bread and rice or soy milk may
find hemp tortillas and hemp milk delicious.

For everyone else, here's a recommendation: Don't buy in bulk.

[Sidebar] Hot hemp products

Not content with chomping on hemp butter sandwiches made with hemp
bread and washed down with hemp lattes, consumers are also slathering
hemp seed oil on their bodies, via myriad lotions and balms: eye
cream, face cream, lip balm, lip liner, lipstick, shampoo,
conditioner, massage oil, shower gel, sunscreen and soap.

They are slapping lavender hemp oil deodorant under their arms,
getting a George Hamilton glow with Hempz indoor tanning lotions and
bronzers, and easing tired muscles with Hot Hemp Muscle Rub analgesic balm.

The more mainstream products available include the Merry Hempsters'
lip balm, Jason Natural Cosmetics lotion with hemp seed oil, Nature's
Gate Skin Therapy Lotion with hemp seed oil and River Soap Co.
Woodlands Bar Soap with hemp seed oil.

"Hemp products are very popular," says Robin Rogosin, a buyer for
Whole Foods Market. "I'm not sure if people are buying these products
because they're enamored with everything hemp and they're thinking,
'Oh, I'm eating hemp bread and drinking hemp milk so I'm going to buy
these things,' or if they're attracted to the products for some other
reason. But sales are strong."