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

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

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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

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