O/T Nestle Urged Not To Buy Chicken-Flavored Fungus Company Quorn

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Nestle Urged Not To Buy Chicken-Flavored Fungus Company Quorn

http://cspinet.org/new/201012132.html

Letter to Nestlé

CSPI and Quorn

Quorn adverse reaction report form

Lawsuit against Quorn

CSPI Cites Dangerous Allergic Reactions

December 13, 2010

WASHINGTON—A nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group is urging Nestlé

not to purchase Quorn, a line of fungus-based fake meats that causes severe

allergic reactions—including vomiting, diarrhea, and anaphylactic reactions—in

some people. In a letter to Nestlé, the Center for Science in the Public

Interest says that it will continue to press government agencies to withdraw

Quorn from the market or at least require that it bear labels warning consumers

of the risks of eating it.

Scientists first discovered Quorn's fungus, Fusarium venenatum, in 1967 in a

soil sample from the British town of Marlow. Grown in giant fermentation vats

and continuously fed a supply of oxygen, glucose, and nutrients, Quorn's fungus

spawns a protein-rich paste. That paste is further processed into vaguely meaty

chunks or strips. And in 1985, Marlow Foods introduced a " savoury pie " composed

of what it now calls " mycoprotein. " Today, Quorn typically takes the shape of

patties or nuggets designed to simulate chicken, as well as a one-pound

cylindrical " Turk'y Roast " and ethnic dishes such as the " Tikka pieces " and

" Fillets in Tomato and Olive Sauce " it sells in the U.K.

The scientists who found Quorn's fungus might have had an inkling about their

discovery when they chose the Latin venenatum—or " filled with venom " —for its

name. Sure enough, an early study by Quorn's manufacturer found that 10 percent

of 200 human subjects fed Quorn developed nausea or a stomachache. Other

scientists found that Quorn caused allergic reactions in some patients. And in

2003, CSPI executive director F. son published a letter in the

journal Allergy characterizing the adverse reactions of 284 Quorn consumers

(CSPI has a Web site to collect such reports). A subsequent article in the

American Journal of Medicine reported that, according to a CSPI-commissioned

telephone survey in Britain, a higher percentage of people believe they are

sensitive to Quorn than to shellfish, milk, peanuts, wheat or other common

allergens. Though no deaths have yet been linked to Quorn, anaphylaxis can be

life-threatening.

" It was clearly a mistake for food safety regulators in Europe, the United

States, and Australia to approve Quorn for human consumption in the first

place, " son said. " It would be a real tragedy for a major food company like

Nestle to start marketing foods made with this harmful ingredient on a bigger

scale. There's so much concern about allergic reactions to conventional foods,

so it's especially inappropriate to broaden the marketing of an unnecessary and

novel powerful allergen. "

Quorn is presently owned by U.K.-based Premier Foods. It has been previously

owned by private equity firms and the drug company AstraZeneca. CSPI has been

urging the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its " generally recognized as

safe " designation for Quorn mycoprotein, and CSPI's litigation unit has filed

suit on behalf of an Pennsylvania woman who had a severe reaction from eating

Quorn. Those efforts have not yet succeeded in getting Quorn off the market or

requiring warning labels on the product, though previously CSPI got the company

to at least acknowledge on the label that mycoprotein comes from a fungus.

" I was curled in a ball on the bathroom floor for almost three hours continually

throwing up, " said Marisa Santanna, a behavioral health case manager from

burg, PA, who ate Quorn nuggets and cutlets. " It got so bad that I started

to throw up blood. The next morning I felt fine, and I made the connection that

the last time this happened I ate Quorn, too. I read the ingredients on the box

and decided to look up mycoprotein and was shocked at what I found online. There

isn't even a warning on the box. "

Quorn's manufacturer used to claim that its signature ingredient was " mushroom

based, " but the company still describes Fusarium venenatum as " an edible fungi

[sic] like mushrooms, morels, or truffles. " But Fusarium venenatum is quite

unlike mushrooms, and is actually a form of mold—some of which are edible and

some not. Other members of the Fusarium genus produce dangerous mycotoxins and

have been studied for potential use as biological weapons or herbicides.

" We have so many safe, sustainable, and wholesome fruits, vegetables, and whole

grains to enjoy on their own and from which to make meat substitutes, " son

said. " Why resort to vat-grown, allergenic mold? To me, Quorn seems better

suited to dystopian science fiction than health food stores. "