Wired News : Quorn's Popularity Mushrooming, but Yanks Must Go Without

[Guest guest]

A note from Seeds:

 

Has anyone heard of or tried this product? It appears to only be in the UK

and a couple of other countries. Visit the QUORN home page @ quorn.com/

Hopefully we, in the US will have the chance to try it soon. I heard on NBC

news, by early next year. Until then, black bean empanadas for all my friends

for supper tonight.

 

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From Wired News, available online at:

http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,889,00.html

 

Quorn's Popularity Mushrooming, but Yanks Must Go Without

by Mark Frauenfelder

 

8:00 p.m. Dec. 9, 1996 PST

Americans eager for a steaming plate of the fungus Fusarium

gramineurum for Christmas dinner this year will have to settle for

plain old turkey, ham, or tofu-loaf once again. " We're waiting for it

to clear FDA regulations, " says Alison Ward, spokeswoman for the

British manufacturer of Quorn, a popular meat substitute manufactured

and sold in the UK since 1985.

 

Quorn has been gaining in popularity throughout much of Europe,

especially after mad cows began stampeding across newspapers and TV

screens last year. While the manufacturer, Zenaca, has invested more

than & #163;60 million in the production of the vat-harvested food in

order to meet skyrocketing demands, Americans won't be able to sink

their teeth into a chub of the fake flesh until it's deemed safe for

import by the FDA - " probably " some time in 1997, Ward says.

 

Originally discovered growing in the dirt around Buckinghamshire, the

fungus is now produced in giant-sized vats to which a steady supply of

oxygen, nitrogen, sugar, and vitamins are added. Once harvested from

the fermentation vats, Quorn undergoes an RNA-reduction process to

reduce its potential mutagenic properties to a level recommended by

the World Health Organization.

 

More than 14,000 tons of Quorn are produced yearly, packaged in a

variety of mouth-watering, ready-to-serve forms, such as pies,

casseroles, and Chilled Quorn Chunks. " The ingredient itself doesn't

have a savory flavor, " explains Ward, who says that different

flavorings must be added to give Quorn different tastes. Ward

describes one recently introduced Quorn product as a " Chicken analog. "

 

 

" I find Quorn like a cross between chicken and mushroom in texture,

with very little inherent flavor, " says one British Quorn-eater polled

by Wired News.

 

A report issued in August by Market Assessment Publications in England

found that almost half the people living in England have curbed their

meat intake, due to contamination and health concerns. But Brits who

insist on real meat might still be getting biotech-hacked food without

knowing it. Some piglets and veal calves in the UK are fed Pruteen, a

type of bacteria raised on methanol. In the past, livestock have

munched on Toprina, a form of yeast that grows on crude oil residues.

 

The newest meat substitute to pass through English gullets is Arrum,

made from pea protein and gluten by the British firm Lucas

Ingredients. To obtain the appropriate " mouth feel " and flexibility,

test subjects were given samples of Arrum to chew while electrodes

attached to their cheeks recorded muscle activity. The mastication

test results indicated that a piece of Arrum requires 6.1 seconds and

10 chews to eat, while a piece of honest-to-gosh chicken takes just

5.4 seconds and nine chews to swallow.

 

Copyright 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Yes, my brother lives over in London and I always have Quorn sausages when I

visit him. They're fabulous if you're looking for a decent meat substitute. The

Linda McCartney line of foods is great as well. Wish we could get all of these

great British veggie delights here in Canada!

Alexia

 

seeds wrote:

 

> A note from Seeds:

>

> Has anyone heard of or tried this product? It appears to only be in the UK

and a couple of other countries. Visit the QUORN home page @ quorn.com/

Hopefully we, in the US will have the chance to try it soon. I heard on NBC

news, by early next year. Until then, black bean empanadas for all my friends

for supper tonight.

>