Journalist Kiera Butler followed up on her Mother Jones piece about hexane in isolated soy protein by interviewing Charlotte Vallaeys from the Cornucopia Institute (the group warning us about this neurotoxin used in the processing of fake meat and other fake protein products). Most of Butler’s questions regarding how dangerous hexane extraction really is were plucked straight out of the comments to her first article. See? Commenters can make a difference.

In case you can’t be bothered to read the interview, I’ll summarize: Vallaeys doesn’t come across as very convincing.

Here’s a sample question and answer:

Mother Jones: Hexane’s boiling point is well below grilling temperature (69C, about 157F). That’s cooler than even a toaster. Is there any evidence that the slightest bit remains in a veggie burger?

Vallaeys: The evaporation argument is often used by the companies that make these products. But what happens to the food when you cook it with this neurotoxic compound? Does it react with other substances and create new compounds before it evaporates? That really has not been studied. We think there should be more testing done on what these substances do to the food.

Butler also cites a study in which chickens were fed tons of hexane and barely seemed to notice. Vallaeys wriggles out of all this by saying that the environmental pollution from the hexane extraction is the worst part.

Um, Vallaeys, do you think we would be eating non-organic textured vegetable protein burgers if we gave a damn about the environment?