A Florida prison inmate is filing a lawsuit against the state’s prison system for what he says is cruel and unusual punishment. According to CBS 10 News in Tampa, 32-year-old convicted pedophile Eric Harris says the soy fillers that have replaced real meat and other foods in prison meals is causing him and others to suffer serious health problems.

Back in 2009, Lake Correctional Institution (LCI) in Clermont, Fla., began substituting soy for meat in many of its meals. Up to 70 percent of so-called ‘meat’ items became soy. This list includes cheese, bread and protein, gravy, dressing, and even milk, according to reports.

The transition cut the prison’s food budget in half, but it also led to a multitude of reported health problems including chronic constipation, severe diarrhea, vomiting, blackouts, heart palpitations, and rashes. There have also been a number of complaints about sharp stomach pains, depression, hypothyroidism, low body temperature, brain fog, fatigue, weight maintenance problems, and thyroid disease.

Following the initial filing, the prison reportedly quickly eliminated many of the obvious forms of soy — things like visible soy or ‘textured vegetable protein’ chunks — from the meals. But it continues to hide high amounts of soy in meat, bread, […]