The nutrition and food safety watchdog group has again urged the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its Generally ‘Recognised as Safe,’ or GRAS, designation for the controversial fermented fungus. If the agency does intend to allow Quorn’s mycoprotein to remain on store shelves, it should at least require a prominent warning label, the group says.
Quorn is a meat substitute that typically takes the shape of artificial chicken patties or nuggets, imitation ground beef, cylindrical roasts, and other meatless incarnations. The principal ingredient is a microscopic fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which the company feeds with oxygenated water, glucose, and other nutrients in giant fermentation tanks.
Once harvested from the tanks, the material is heat treated in order to remove its excess RNA, and then dewatered in a centrifuge. Combined with egg albumen and other ingredients, it is then texturised into various meat-like shapes.
CSPI first urged the Food and Drug Administration to take Quorn off the market in 2002, and has been collecting adverse reaction reports from consumers ever since.
CSPI has collected about 500 such reports from Americans and 1,200 more from European and Australian consumers. The vast majority of those reactions involved vomiting and diarrhoea. Others reported fainting or blood appearing in stool, vomit, or eyes. A smaller%age of complaints involved hives or potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions. About 17% of complainants required medical treatment, sometimes hospitalisation.
*Source: CSPI *
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