Fake Meat More Allergenic Than Other Food

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Quorn “Fungus Food” Sickens 5% of Eaters

 

Fake Meat More Allergenic Than Other Food

 

A medical journal article says that a new food ingredient called mycoprotein is

more likely to cause adverse reactions than shellfish, milk, peanuts, and other

common food allergens. Mycoprotein, sold under the brand name Quorn, is a meat

substitute made from vat-grown mold. According to the letter published in the

American Journal of Medicine by Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), eating Quorn can cause

vomiting, diarrhea, hives, swelling, or even anaphylactic shock.

Quorn has been marketed in the U.S. for less than two years, but has been

available for more than a decade in the United Kingdom. In a CSPI-commissioned

telephone survey of British consumers, five percent of 396 people who had eaten

Quorn reported adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of people than

reported allergies to shellfish (three percent); milk, peanuts, and wheat (two

percent); or other common food allergens.

In addition, the study reports on 597 reports of adverse reactions attributed to

Quorn. Of those people, 67 percent suffered vomiting; 33 percent diarrhea; 6

percent hives or broken blood vessels in the gastrointestinal tract or eyes; and

1 percent anaphylactic reactions. Most of those reports were collected on a CSPI

web site, www.QuornComplaints.com.

“It is quite astonishing that the Food and Drug Administration considers Quorn

Foods as ‘Generally Recognized As Safe,’ even though many people have suffered

severe vomiting or diarrhea, hives, and even anaphylactic reactions,” Jacobson

said. “Many people said that Quorn made them sicker than they ever were before,

that cramps and vomiting were debilitating, and that they had to go to their

doctor or the emergency room. At a time of widespread public concern about food

allergies, it is shocking that the FDA would permit a new food that it knows

will sicken countless consumers. The FDA should order it off the market

immediately.”

Other recent reports in the medical literature have proven that mycoprotein

causes allergic reactions. It is unclear whether it also can cause toxic

reactions, but the particular fungus used, Fusarium venenatum, is known for

producing mycotoxins. In fact, the word ‘venenatum’ is Latin for venomous.

Quorn’s manufacturer, Marlow Foods, contends that the strain of fungus it uses

does not produce toxins.

In addition, the British developer of mycoprotein conducted a clinical study in

1977-78 that proved that the product causes sometimes-severe gastrointestinal

disturbances. CSPI obtained that unpublished study via a Freedom of Information

Act request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Authorities in the United Kingdom forced Marlow Foods to change the labeling,

which had falsely claimed that mycoprotein was “mushroom protein,” even though

it’s made from a non-mushroom processed mold. The FDA has been investigating

reports of adverse reactions to Quorn, but CSPI has repeatedly criticized the

agency for the glacial pace of its investigation and for allowing its sale in

the first place.

Note: Contact CSPI at 202-777-8370 for a copy of the published report. The

citation is Am. J. Med. 2003 (September);115:334.

 

 

 

 

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