Food Allergy Danger Seen in Quorn Fungus Foods

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Food Allergy Danger Seen in Quorn Fungus Foods

'Mycoprotein' meat substitute linked to vomiting, diarrhea, and worse

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/09/food-allergy-danger-seen-in-quorn-\

fungus-foods.html

By Limbach

ConsumerAffairs.Com

September 24, 2010

Australian officials are being urged to prohibit the sale of Quorn brand meat

substitutes, which are made from a fungus grown in giant vats, from whence a

protein-rich paste is harvested. The paste is then processed into strips or

chunks designed to resemble chicken, ground beef, or other foods.

But, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a

significant percentage of consumers suffer allergic reactions after eating the

fake meats, with the most common symptoms being nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Some consumers experience potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reactions,

including swelling of the throat and difficulty breathing. A CSPI survey in the

United Kingdom found that a higher percentage of people are sensitive to Quorn

foods than are allergic to peanuts, milk, or shellfish, several common

allergens.

On sale for several years in the United States and longer in Europe, Quorn's

fungus is now being sold Down Under for the first time.

" I urge you to protect Australians from powerfully allergenic Quorn foods --

that are marketed as if they were health foods -- by barring their sale, " wrote

CSPI executive director F. son in a letter to Food Standards

Australia & New Zealand. " At the very least, a prominent notice on the fronts of

packages should advise consumers that the products can cause serious and

potentially fatal allergic reactions. "

Reports of illness

Australian Joanne , of ston North, , first purchased Quorn

Lasagna at Woolworth's. Almost immediately, the 41-year-old homemaker realized

something was not quite right. First came a gnawing pain in her upper abdomen,

and then burping. Then, a tingling feeling in her limbs. Over the next six

hours, she suffered severe and sometimes sudden vomiting. Following that,

equally severe diarrhea -- watery at first, then bloody. After various

medications eased those symptoms, cramping and fatigue lingered in for a

week.

" It's such a shame that an alternative for vegetarians is so harmful to my

health, " said. " This product should have been checked more before being

released upon the public. "

Donna-Marie Bradtke, a 47-year-old weight-loss consultant from Perth, had

similar experiences after eating Quorn Southern Style Burgers, which she

purchased from the retailer Coles. " I had such violent vomiting that my throat

seemed to close and I really thought I was going to choke. I am very worried

that someone old or very young may eat this product and have the same adverse

reaction, " Bradtke said.

Here in the U.S., Anne of Long Beach, CA, tells ConsumerAffairs.com that she

purchased Quorn meatless chicken cutlets from Whole foods. " The product states

that it is made from mushrooms so my husband and I thought we would try it. I

cooked the cutlets according to the directions and about an hour later my

husband started throwing up a lot. I felt completely fine. I cooked the cutlets

with eggplant and bok choy and I thought maybe there was something wrong with

some aspect of the dinner I made. We really thought nothing of it. " The

following month, she says " I saw that Quorn has a product called 'grounds'

meatless ground meat. I thought perfect -- this is what I will use on the taco

salad. I made him (my husband) taco salad for his birthday dinner and about an

hour later he started throwing up, but this time it was really scary. He threw

up for slightly over two hours, it was violent, he was pale he was shaking and

he began to wheeze. " Ann says she did an Internet search on Quorn " and was

horrified to read all the people who had the exact same reaction as my husband.

It turns out that it is an allergic reaction to the product and it is not made

from mushrooms but mold created in vats. There is nothing on the package that

says if you are allergic to mold to not eat their product. " She says when she

asked a company representative why there is no mold warning on the package, she

was told, " because it is such a small population of people who have the reaction

your husband did we do not want to alarm the general public. "

A tip-off?

Quorn's fungus is a strain of mold found in the 1960s in a British dirt sample.

Scientists found that the fungus could be cultivated in fermentation vats and

turned into an inexpensive source of protein. The name of the fungus, Fusarium

venenatum, might have tipped off scientists and food safety officials: venenatum

is Latin for " filled with venom. "

But early Quorn marketing materials sought to convey a relationship with more

desirable fungi, such as mushrooms and morels. But that relationship turned out

to be more distant than consumers were led to believe. One mycologist-a fungus

expert-said that calling Quorn a mushroom was like " calling a rat a chicken

because both are animals. " Another expert in fungal taxonomy told CSPI that

" mushrooms are as distantly related to Quorn's fungus as humans are to

jellyfish. "

" We were disappointed that food safety authorities in the U.S. and the U.K.

would so quickly and incuriously welcome a brand new and powerful allergen into

the human food supply, when the limited amount of testing that had been done

raised so many red flags, " son said. " Unfortunately, notwithstanding all

the evidence that Quorn foods are harmful, the Australian government has done

the same thing. "

Quorn comes in many forms, including artificial chicken patties and nuggets,

turkey-like cylindrical " Roasts, " and meat-free analogues of several British

delicacies like " Cornish Pasties " and " Toad in the Hole. " Quorn's Web site says

that dishes such as " Quorn Schnitzels Cheese and Spinach " are now available at

Woolworth's, Coles, and other Australian grocers.

CSPI's campaign

CSPI has been trying to get Quorn off of American and British supermarket

shelves since 2002. Lawyers for the nonprofit group are presently representing

an American woman who became violently ill after eating Quorn " Chik'n Patties. "

Her lawsuit seeks to compel the company to place notices on Quorn labels warning

consumers about the adverse reactions. CSPI has also been collecting adverse

reaction reports online (more than 1,500 to date), and recently began receiving

reports from worried Australian consumers.

Debra Connell of Melbourne was home with her three-and-a-half year-old twins

when she became ill with vomiting, diarrhea, and a red rash after eating Quorn

Lasagna. She says she's a careful label reader, but had no idea what to expect

from eating " mycoprotein. "

" It took two days for my constricted chest, coughing, and burning sensation in

my chest to subside, " Connell said, adding that " I'm beginning to wonder if

there are going to be life-long side effects from eating Quorn. "

As of now, the web site for Food Standards Australia & New Zealand claims

" Reported cases of adverse events gastrointestinal disturbance and allergy) are

very rare. No safety concerns identified. "

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