When seeking to answer the question, “What is soy lecithin?” our search immediately takes us to mid-19th century France. First isolated by French chemist Theodore Gobley in 1846, lecithin is a generic term to designate a variety of naturally occurring fatty compounds found in animal and plant tissues. Composed of choline, fatty acids, glycerol, glycolipids, phospholipids, phosphoric acid and triglycerides, lecithin was originally isolated from egg yolk. Today, it is regularly extracted from cottonseed, marine sources, milk, rapeseed, soybeans and sunflower. It is usually used as a liquid but can also be purchased as lecithin granules. By and large, the vast majority of lecithin use centers around its usefulness as an excellent emulsifier.