Quorn???
 

Hi,

Can someone please explain to me what Quorn is and why its so bad? I Googled it so I know that it is a type of fungus made into fake meat but aside from being a little gross what is wrong with that? I eat mushrooms afterall. Is there some part of the process that makes it unappealing?

Casey

I'm not a vegetarian, so I don't normally post here. Therefore, I may have missed when/where someone said Quorn was "bad." I love it, I eat it, and it's a great source of protein. You can't even tell it's mushroom/fungi. I've heard things like "make sure you cook it well," but other than that, why do you say "it's so bad?" What have you heard?

I think there was a post on this board and I know there was one on another veggie website that didn't specifically say it was BAD but left me with the impression that it made the poster ill or at least the idea of it made them ill. So that's why I ask.

I'll look now to see if I can find the post that made me ask so I can link to it. Maybe it was just my imagination and thats not what they meant? I don't really have a problem with it being a fungus and I was actually thinking of trying to find some the next time I'm in the city.

Thanks for your response!

Casey

Hi Casey :) ,

I seriously think it is ABSOLUTELY delicious!!! I eat it probably 3 times a week. My friend's daughter (she's 11) is a vegetarian, and he makes it for her all the time. He never wanted to tell her it was mushroom/fungi, though, because he was afraid she'd never eat it again :o . And then her older brother told her and she didn't believe him! It was hilarious. I STILL don't think she believes it :) .

I'll be interested to see that post you were talking about :) .

Well I can't find the post that made me ask the question in the first place so I decided to google "quorn complaints" and this is the first link you get...

http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/

It claims that quorn is an allergen and that 5% of people who eat it have a bad reaction to it. Which I guess if you are part of the 5% is a bad thing, but I really don't see how that is different than peanut butter since a lot of people are very allergic to peanuts and yet they are still sold. I wonder if 5% is a high number in terms of allergic reactions to other foods?

Maybe I'll try it but be sure to have the benedryl on hand :)

I guess any time you try a new food the potential for allergic reaction is there.

Looks like I didn't need to ask this question afterall...just needed to do a little more research. But thank you, Kate, for your input...I'm going to take your word that its good and give it a try if I can find some.

Casey

The only negative thing I have heard about Quorn is that it isn't suitable for vegans, as it contains lactose and milk proteins. I personally don't like it much, it's a texture thing, but the flavour is ok. For the record, I suffer from various allergies, but Quorn didn't do anything to me!

Yeah, it's interesting about the allergy thing. I am HORRENDOUSLY allergic to mold spores, which is the connection someone made in that link Casey gave (there was an article saying that people with mold spore allergies get hideously ill after eating Quorn). I've been eating Quorn regularly -- 3 times a week or more -- for 3 years and have never had a problem. The CSPI is basing all their anti-Quorn stuff on 250 people who got sick, which is a heck of a small number considering it's been on the market in the UK for something like 20 years (and just about everyone I know in the UK eats it).

I'm sure there ARE people who have allergic reactions to it, but that's the same with pretty much every food.

But I'll be sure to let everyone know if I get violently ill from it. Ever :D .

uhg...ive eaten it before..taste is ok....nice really...but i looked it up online..and after reading some of what i read..i couldnt stand to stomache it anymore...grosses me out to even think about it..its basically just mold.
if you like it and dont have a reaction to it..then eat it..but for me..after reading up on it..i cant really stand it X_x

much rather have boca, morningstar, tofurky and light life

OK, people, any recipes?

:)

When I buy the breaded Quorn cutlets or nuggets, I just eat them as they are. They're very yummy without having to do anything to them.

When I lived in the UK, all the Quorn was (LOL) "naked" without the breading. I haven't been able to find that version in the States yet. But in the UK, I used to just do to Quorn whatever I would do to chicken. You can slice up the cutlets and put them in a stir-fry (cook them first). I've even made a Quorn curry before (Indian food). Use your imagination! Just -- like I said -- cook it before you use it in a recipe.

In the UK you can get Quorn mince, in cubes and a lovely big roll (like a big sausage) that you roast in the oven. It takes around an hour or maybe more so just like a roast. There are also slices (like ham or chicken), pate. Also fillets (like chicken) in breadcrumbs or batter or a lovely sauce and curries too. Oh and sausages. I love the sausages. Most things unless already made up into a recipe will need flavouring of some sort.


Try http://www.quorn.com/ for recipes - just click on your country.

So now the problem is they don't have it in my grocery store. Not really surprising...they don't really have "alternative" foods...even things like brown rice or loose tea. Looks like I'll have to wait til we hit the city. Although thinking about the allergy stuff makes me a little hesitant to feed it to my husband since he is allergic to everything and will just randomly breakout in red spots. I'm already responsible for an allergic reaction that sent him to the hospital overnight...we don't need to add another one of those to my record:) .

But I guess when people start spreading rumors about a product thats exactly the way they want people to think. Really with the number of reported reactions I don't think you would find much of a difference in a control group. Just me being paranoid I guess.

Casey

There was a topic about this on one of the vegetarian groups in Live Journal. If anyone wants, I will share the articles...

but there were some studies done which showed that many people are in fact allergic to the fungus that is used in Quorn. There was also some concern about product misrepresentation in that Quorn is not at all made of a "mushroom", but it's made of a fungus that grows in the ground... and that they just say it's a mushroom to avoid people's negative reactions to hearing the term "fungus"...

I think that the allergy thing ought to be dealt with by posting some sort of disclaimer or warning on the packaging and also by not misrepresenting what the substance is and finding some other non-threatening way to describe it.

I've tried Quorn myself (when I wasn't trying to be vegan), and I enjoyed it...

I have another question, though...

Has anyone ever tried this stuff called "Veat" (not the hair removal product, it's a food)? or something like that... I think that IS vegan, and I thought it tasted pretty eerily close to what chicken and other meats tasted like... anyone know what that's made of? TVP?

It's not vegan and is made of isolated soy protein and whey. It tastes quite good and for those who aren't vegan, it's a great choice.

Alright, I was not sure. Thanks for clarification. :dizzy:

I love quorn too its amazing and I'm normally allergic to absolutely everything. It's also very low fat in comparison to most other veggie substitutes.

This "quorn" stuff sounds like something I need to try. I adore tofu, I like TVP and this sounds quite tasty. I am not adverse to fungus, myself. Thanks Kate for your positive take on it- I went to the Quorn website (thank you for the link, Peacock 2) and my local granola-store carries it.

Maybe even my partner and son will eat it- I won't tell them it's a fungus though. . .

I'll let y'all know what we think and I'll keep our benadryl handy just in case!

Yes do let us know how you get on with it. Even if your store only carries the minced quorn and chunks they can be quite versatile.

the satay sticks are my new thing of the moment so tasty

Quorn is the trademark of a fungus-based food product, sold as a meat substitute to vegetarians and the health conscious.

Quorn is made from the soil mold Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684 . F. venenatum was discovered in the soil of a farm near the town of Marlow in the UK in the 1960s. The fungus is grown in continually-oxygenated water in large sterile fermentation tanks. During the growth phase glucose is added as a food for the fungus, as are various vitamins and minerals . The resulting mycoprotein is then extracted and heat-treated to remove excess levels of RNA . The product is then dried and mixed with chicken egg albumen, which acts as a binder. It is then textured, giving it some of the grained character of meat, and pressed either into a mince or into chunks . In this form Quorn has a light brown colour and a mild flavour vaguely akin to a nutty beef, and is suitable for use as a replacement for meat in many dishes, such as stews and casseroles. The final Quorn product is high in vegetable protein, dietary fibre, and is low in saturated fat and salt.

The patents for the production technology used to produce Quorn are owned by its inventors, Marlow Foods. Marlow was a subsidiary of pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca but is now privately owned. Contrary to some suggestions, Quorn is not genetically modified: the fungus used is still genetically unmodified from in the state in which it was discovered. The different tastes and forms of Quorn are results of industrial processing of the raw fungus. Marlow sells Quorn brand mycoprotein in its two ready-to-cook forms, and has recently introduced a range of chilled vegetarian entrees based on Quorn.

The fungus was discovered in the 1960s, but remained something of a scientific curiosity until 1975. At that time food economists theorised that the world would soon experience a significant shortage of dietary protein . Several companies pursued the commercial development of fungal protein products, of which Quorn was the most successful. Quorn was first test-marketed in the UK in 1985 , and introduced into other parts of Europe in the late 1990s. As of 2004 it is also available in stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.

Its 2002 debut in the USA was more problematic - the sale of Quorn was contested by The American Mushroom Institute, Gardenburger, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. They filed complaints with advertising and trading-standards watchdogs in Europe and the USA, claiming that the labelling of Quorn as "mushroom based" was deceptive. The CSPI, observing that while a mushroom is a fungus, fusarium is not a mushroom, quipped "Quorn's fungus is as closely related to mushrooms as humans are to jellyfish." CSPI also expressed concern that the novel proteins present in Quorn could produce unexpected allergic reactions in some consumers, and continues to lobby for its removal from stores on this basis. Calling the product "fungus food", CSPI claimed in 2003 that it "sickens 5% of eaters" . Defenders of Quorn have alleged CSPI maybe influenced by large soybean agribusinesses because Quorn would compete most directly with soy based textured vegetable protein.

This information is based on the Wikipedia article ''Quorn''. It is licensed under the GNU free documentation license.