founded 1968 number of employees 128 april 2013 1 website edenfoods.com eden foods inc. also known as eden organic is an organic food company in the united states . it is best known for its edensoy line of organic soy milk 2 and its line of organic japanese foods and condiments . the company claims to be the oldest independent organic food producer in the united states and the largest supplier of organic dry grocery items . 3 eden was founded in 1969 as a co op grocery store in ann arbor michigan to continue the operations of a defunct macrobiotic food buying club . 4 originally incorporated as a nonprofit it became a for profit company in 1970 . 4 in 1972 the company began importing japanese foods such as miso and soy sauce for both the retail and commercial markets . many of eden s japanese foods are still sourced in japan . most of eden food s products are organic most are certified kosher and all of eden foods products are also vegan except for their katsuo japanese fish flakes . many of eden s prepared foods are also gluten free and have therefore been recommended for those on a gluten free or gluten free casein free gfcf diet 5 contents 1 products 1.1 soy milk 1.2 soy sauce 1.3 extra virgin olive oil 1.4 canned food 2 controversy 2.1 infant formula charges 2.2 employee healthcare 3 see also 4 references 5 external links products edit soy milk edit in 1997 an independent test by the new york times looking for traces of gmos in 11 soy and corn based products found eden s milk to be the only product that tested clean a finding that eden foods attributed to their extensive certification and testing program . 6 soy sauce edit in 2001 eden shoyu soy sauce was rated highest for flavor by cook s illustrated in a comparison of 12 brands . in 2007 eden s tamari was rated best out of seven brands tested in a comparison conducted by the san francisco chronicle for its taster s choice column . 7 extra virgin olive oil edit in 1999 prevention magazine rated eden s extra virgin spanish olive oil highest in flavor and protective nutrients out of the 22 brands of extra virgin olive oil studied . 8 canned food edit eden uses bpa free enamel lined cans for most of its products the only exception being tomato based foods 9 and was subsequently recommended by the center for science in the public interest as a safer option for canned food . 10 in a 2005 study eden s canned refried beans were rated best in nutritional value among commercial refried beans by men s health magazine . 11 controversy edit infant formula charges edit in 1988 ceo michael potter was charged and later served 30 days in jail on misdemeanor charges for misrepresenting edensoy soy milk as an infant formula . 12 the suit was brought after a canadian infant developed a rare eye and bone disorder as a result of vitamin deficiency from being fed the product . 12 13 14 the child s physician later reported the patient to have completely recovered . 12 15 employee healthcare edit in march 2013 eden foods filed suit against the obama administration seeking an exemption from the mandate to cover contraception for its employees under the affordable care act . 16 according to the company s ceo michael potter providing access to any form of contraceptives would violate his beliefs as a catholic . 17 this stance against all types of birth control differs from hobby lobby s refusal to cover several types of contraception . eden foods lost its suit in both the district court and the 6th circuit court of appeals eden v. sebelius 18 and appealed to the supreme court . the burwell v. hobby lobby decision by the us supreme court on 30 june 2014 overrules the lower courts . the next day the supreme court agreed to hear the case eden foods v. burwell . 19 public awareness of the filings sparked a negative response from customers hundreds of whom urged a boycott of the company on popular liberal websites as well as the company s own facebook page . 20 21 see also edit organic infant formula references edit irin carmon april 11 2013 . organic eden foods quiet right wing agenda a crunchy natural food company marketed to liberals discreetly sues to stop covering employees contraception . salon.com . dun & bradstreet report on eden via google finance about eden foods a b shurtleff william 2011 . history of erewhon natural foods pioneer in the united states . soy info center . p. 167 . the gfcf diet side dishes eden foods organic soy milk passes the media test for gmos the organic & non gmo report sfgate.com top tamari balances sweet and salty eden foods press release eco childs play canned food and bpa report from center for science in the public interest on bpa 125 top foods for men a b c eden foods pleads guilty to infant formula violations . vegetarian times . active interest media inc. 9 10 april 1989 . issn 0164 8497 . retrieved 22 april 2013 . 1980 infant formula act may have been violated . the argus press . owosso mi . august 17 1988 . p. 11 . oclc 36134862 . retrieved 2013 04 22 . fats & oils news . journal of the american oil chemists society . 66 4 500 . 1989 . doi 10.1007 bf02885435 . william shurtleff akiko aoyagi 29 august 2013 . history of soymilk and other non dairy milks 1226 2013 including infant formulas calf milk replacers soy creamers soy shakes soy smoothies almond milk coconut milk peanut milk rice milk sesame milk etc. soyinfo center . p. 1698 . isbn 978 1 928914 58 7 . carmon irin april 11 2013 . organic eden foods quiet right wing agenda . salon . retrieved 2013 04 15 . pelham dennis 1 july 2014 . eden foods owner grateful for supreme court ruling . the daily telegram . retrieved 2 july 2014 . eden foods inc. et al. v. sebelius et al. 6th cir 2013 10 24 we affirm the district court s denial of eden foods s motion for a preliminary injunction . text http www.supremecourt.gov search.aspx filename docketfiles 13 591.htm hymas lisa . this organic food company is refusing to pay for employees birth control . grist.org . grist.org . retrieved 8 july 2014 . eden foods hobby lobby esque birth control fight sparks boycott . huffington post . retrieved 15 february 2015 . external links edit eden foods official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title eden foods inc. & oldid 743033336 categories organic foodcompanies established in 1968food manufacturers of the united statesvegetarian companies and establishments navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 october 2016 at 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