The fungus-based substitute is blamed for illness

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Group has bone to pick with meatless marvel, Quorn

The fungus-based substitute is blamed for illness, but officials and

maker question: Where's the beef?

By ROSIE MESTEL

LOS ANGELES TIMES

March 22, 2004

STOKESLEY, England -- Refrigerated trucks trundle down the pretty

country lanes, laden with doughy masses of fungus - 32 tons or more a

day.

" Pure mycoprotein - good enough to eat, won't taste of anything, very

bland, " declares manufacturing manager Pete Willis, tearing off a

golf-ball-sized sample from a 2,000-pound glob.

Workers in white boots shepherd the fungal paste through a sea of

vats and clanking machines that mix, press, slice and dice the raw

dough.

What comes out at the end is a matter of perspective - luscious

artificial meat patties that taste just like chicken, or dangerous

vat-grown " vomit-burgers " that are sickening consumers.

The product is Quorn, a fungus-based meat substitute that millions of

Europeans have eaten for years. It entered the U.S. market in 2002 to

rave reviews by consumers, but was quickly met with a dogged anti-

Quorn campaign by an influential consumer group, the Center for

Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI.

son, CSPI's executive director, claims that Quorn makes

people ill - and he wants every last nugget expunged from American

soil.

He has started a " Quorn complaints " Web site and petitioned the Food

and Drug Administration to yank the product.

" It seems in the FDA's eyes severe vomiting, diarrhea and

anaphylactic reactions do not constitute harm, " son said. " I

think that's pathetic. "

No evidence of problems

Quorn's manufacturers, based in the bucolic Yorkshire town of

Stokesley, say they are perplexed and not a little irked over the

complaints about what they prefer to describe as their " mushroom " -

related product.

More than 1 billion servings of Quorn have been eaten in Europe since

the first savory pie was rolled out in 1985. Consumers have chowed

down - all with no known deaths.

Several leading allergy experts say there is no evidence suggesting

special problems with Quorn, although a few people can be expected to

react badly to the fungus, just as some might to any other foodstuff.

" We wouldn't be the No. 1 best-selling [meat substitute] in the U.K.

and Europe if we had the kinds of reactions that son is

claiming, " said Nick , managing director of Quorn's maker,

Marlow Foods Ltd.

So far, Quorn is winning the fight. More than 6 million servings have

been sold in the United States. The brand is the No. 1-selling

poultry alternative in U.S. health food stores. Its nuggets are the

overall best-selling fake meat, according to SPINS, a natural-food

market researcher.

For the CSPI, it's part of a broad battle over the soul and safety of

modern food, pitting the wholesomeness of Mother Nature against the

corrupting power of big business and biotechnology.

" Quorn is about as far from natural as you can get, " son

recently wrote. " There is an abundance of healthful meat alternatives

made with things that come from farms, like soybeans, mushrooms,

rice. "

Tastes like chicken

The British government approved the sale of mycoprotein in 1985. When

Quorn arrived in the United States 17 years later, health food fans -

and even son's group - embraced its chickeny taste.

" Darn good tasting, " the center raved in its newsletter. But a chill

wind soon blew down the aisles of the whole-food stores.

It started with what Quorn executives now describe as the " mushroom

controversy. " son noticed on Quorn's packages that the product

was made of mycoprotein from " an unassuming member of the mushroom

family. "

Quorn is made from the fungus " Fusarium venenatum " that consists of

translucent strands. The fibers' thickness and their branching

patterns give Quorn a springiness and mouth feel similar to animal

muscle.

For the CSPI, a mislabeled product is like a lightning rod. Formed in

1971 by son, the group has tackled a long list of food-related

issues, including the famous " heart attack on a plate " (fettuccine

Alfredo).

Now Quorn packages bear the description: " from the fungi family - and

a relative of mushrooms, truffles, and morel. "

son published a letter in the American Journal of Medicine in

September, asserting that a CSPI-commissioned telephone survey in

Britain of about 400 Quorn-eaters found that the faux meat sickens

more people than leading allergens such as milk and peanuts.

Critics say the industry study cited by son actually revealed

only one confirmed reaction to Quorn, according to British consultant

Gareth , who supervised the study.

In December, the CSPI coordinated a letter from 11 consumers who

reported bad reactions, urging the health food store chain Whole

Foods Market to take the product from its shelves.

The FDA is investigating, but there's no evidence to warrant a

withdrawal, officials said