Re: OT: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing Danger

[Guest guest]

KC,

Amazing! (as in stupid and dangerous)

If labels were required to carry warnings as suggested in the

article, the FDA wouldn't even need to act. People who know they

are mold reactive wouldn't buy it. Those who have no idea would

get sick but could immediately connect their vomiting to the food

they just ate. We don't just need more regulation. We desparately

need more information.

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing

Dangerous Reactions

Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

WASHINGTON-An Arizona woman has filed a class action

lawsuitaccusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that

some people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

fungus-mold, actually-discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt sample.

The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into a fibrous,

proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people have reported to

the Center for Science in the Public Interest that they have suffered

adverse reactions, including nausea, violent vomiting, uncontrollable

diarrhea, and even life-threatening anaphylactic reactions after eating

the patties, cutlets, tenders and other products made with Quorn's

fungus.

The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is serving as co-

counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are serving the company,

whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with the suit today. The case is

filed in Superior Court in the Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate Quorn's Chik'n

Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each time, within two hours

of eating the product, Cardinale became violently ill. Thinking she had

had a stomach virus, Cardinale didn't realize that she was reacting to the

Quorn until the third time she ate one of the patties, after which she

vomited seven or eight times within two hours.

" I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out of my mouth, I was

vomiting so hard, " said Cardinale. " Once I began to research Quorn

online I realized I wasn't alone and that other people had similar stories.

It was unbelievable to me that the company knew this was going on and

wasn't warning consumers about these problems. "

Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature organism as

being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since all of those are

fungi. While that's true, it's as misleading as claiming that humans are

related to jellyfish since they're both animals, according to CSPI. Quorn's

fungus is named Fusarium venenatum- " venenatum " is Latin for

" venomous. "

As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse reactions

to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted by Quorn's

developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who ate the fungus

experienced nausea, vomiting, or other gastrointestinal symptoms,

compared with five percent in a control group. The company claims the

rate of illness is trivial, though a 2005 telephone survey of consumers in

Britain-where the products have been marketed longer and more widely

than in the United States-commissioned by CSPI found that almost five

percent of Quorn eaters experienced adverse reactions. That was a

higher percentage of people than that of those who reported allergies to

shellfish, milk, peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002,

more than 1,400 British and American consumers have filed adverse

reaction reports on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

" It's almost unheard of for a company to market something as healthy

when it actually makes a significant percentage of its customers sick

within minutes or hours, " said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner. " It

is the company's legal obligation to warn consumers about these serious

adverse reactions, and getting the company to meet that obligation is the

purpose of this lawsuit. "

" Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn't make people sick,

or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting, diarrhea,

breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in some

consumers, " said CSPI executive director F. son.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not disagree that

Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic reactions, the agency

still considers the Quorn ingredient to be " generally recognized as safe. "

" At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned about the

rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the FDA knowingly

permitted a powerful new allergen into the food supply, " said son.

" We call on the FDA to revisit its policy. "

CSPI's litigation department has, since its founding in 2004, sued a

number of leading national food companies and has secured agreements

improving food labeling, marketing, or product formulation with

Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft, Sara Lee and other

companies. CSPI's litigation activities helped spur the removal of

artificial trans fat from restaurant food and helped return millions of

dollars to consumers from makers of the dietary supplement Airborne.

Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is serving as

co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI's litigation unit.

--

Greenberg, MD MPH Sysop / Moderator Occ-Env-Med-L MailList

Univ. N. Carolina School Public Health

Medical Director http://www.UrbanMin.org

Urban Ministries of Wake County Open Door Clinic

http://www.OpenDoorDocs.org

GNGreenberg@... http://occhealthnews.net

Please remove this footer before replying to the forum.

Today's Sponsor: MediTrax

MediTrax, integrated, affordable, user-friendly practice management

software for occupational health programs.

= -- = -- = --

You are currently receiving Occ-Env-Med-L, a free discussion forum for

clinical and public health professionals (only) about topics in

Occupational & Environmental Medicine, housed at the University of

N.Carolina School of Public Health.

To broadcast to all readers, send your msg to Occ-Env-Med-Llistserv (DOT)

unc.edu

----------

The following section of this message contains a file attachment

prepared for transmission using the Internet MIME message format.

If you are using Pegasus Mail, or any other MIME-compliant system,

you should be able to save it or view it from within your mailer.

If you cannot, please ask your system administrator for assistance.

---- File information -----------

File: DEFAULT.BMP

Date: 16 Jun 2009, 0:10

Size: 358 bytes.

Type: Unknown