Quorn's delish! Plus it has that genuine Soylent Green sci-fi factor. The concept that "quorn is mycoprotein" is vaguely gross -- for about 3 seconds, until you realise that mushrooms are too.

Mind you, even in Europe, Quorn is still pretty much a vegetarian-ghetto offering.

So I guess Quorn must be just hitting the states now, then?

Not many vegetarian foods are as high in protein and low in carbohydrates as quorn is. Adding quorn to your veggies increases the % of protein (useful if you are on a Zone diet). It also has a much more interesting texture than tofu.

My local supermarket now has a whole shelf of quorn and quorn products.

I've eaten plenty of it and the only problem I've had heartburn once or twice.

It really doesn't bother me that if its made in a vat, probably so is everything else you eat, apart from fresh vegetables.

I don't think they have it in for Quorn per se. Quorn is just the latest scapegoat that Michael Jacobson has trotted out to get his name and face in the media. If it weren't Quorn it'd be something else (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Center for Science in the Public Interest warns that children who consume nothing but Pez candy and wax lips may suffer from nutritional deficiencies, and urges a recall of these dangerous 'fake foods').

It's interesting to browse their site and try to figure out just who these people are. Other than Jacobson, I don't see ANY names, nor do I see any qualifications for Jacobson himself.

Going by other sources, he apparently has a PhD (in some unspecified area, from some unspecified university) and refers to himself as Dr. Jacobson.

CSPI claims 800,000 subscribers for its "Nutrition Action Healthletter"(at fifteen bucks a pop!).

I think I'm in the wrong line of work. Maybe I'll start issuing press releases about the dangers of running with scissors or sticking forks into electrical outlets and see how many subscribers *I* can scare up.

If you google "quorn" the first link is a paid ad from the CSPI that says "Ate Quorn and got sick?" They really have it in for the Quorn farmers.

In the UK, Quorn is as ubiquitous as soy. I eat it regularly, and I have a fairly average diet - I eat pretty much anything. Stick a chicken kiev on a plate next to a Quorn kiev, and you really won't tell them apart.

I don't remember there being such a hoo-ha in this country about it. We just accepted it as 'being like mushrooms' and chose to take it or leave it.

Quorn has been amazingly popular in the UK and Europe for about six years; it's as ubiquitous in London as Gardenburgers are in the States. I've been enjoying it ever since the FDA approved it. Low fat, high nutrients, great for the environment, inexpensive, wonderfully flexible in cooking, and the patties are terrific. Great stuff. No complaints.

And it should be noted that this stuff was named by Brits, who don't use the term "corn" regularly. It's maize over there, y'know.

I miss coconut-oil popped popcorn. You can taste the difference. CSPI's health scaremongering has significantly eroded my moviegoing experience.

Although even the name Quorn sounds gross to me.

Enough of these half measures. Let's just cut directly to eating Soylent Green.

I tried a Quorn chicken nugget the other day and it was great. I didn't get sick. Just label it properly, and let those who get sick from it avoid it. The rest of us will have a great meat alternative.

Sneer if you like about the popcorn report, fungus, but they were right. I broke a damned tooth on that stuff. It's dangerous!

We need to encourage reporters, when paraphrasing CSPI press releases, to add a disclaimer paragraph such as:

CSPI has previously been in the news due to their opposition to movie theatre popcorn, chinese food, mexican food, italian food, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, pizza, hotdogs, starbucks, steak houses, delis, olestra, pastry, foods containing ginkgo biloba, turkeys, sugar, saccharin and soft drinks.

America doesn't have Quorn? Then what the hell have have I been eating in those faux chicken nuggets?

I liked Quorn. I used to eat lots of it. It's been very widely available in the UK for over ten years. It's tasty and healthier than meat. But it eating it will make me ill, not because of the "mycoprotein", but because of the milk and eggs in it. Milk and eggs make me sick. No more stilton or fried egg and chips for me.

Some people are physically intolerant to some foods, it happens.

Edited by author 08-13-2002 05:31 PM
quorn is made from Fusarium venenatum here not Fusarium gramineurum. i seached and a lot of people say gramineurum, did it change?

also, it doesn't make me sick, and it's tasty. :) (it's not a mushroom though)

one time a hamburger made me throw up. hamburgers, the original vomit-burger!

Of course, any story broken by the raving lunatics at CSPI has a mighty steep curb of credibility to climb over. They were the same ones who were fulminating against movie popcorn a few years back, you may recall. Man, I was sure grateful for THAT expose! I quickly moved away from my all-movie-popcorn diet, and I feel much better for it. Thanks, CSPI!

One might ask why an organization with so few actual scientists on board seems to feel the need to trumpet the word "science" in its name. Maybe it's because "Center for Whiny Anal-retentive Joyless NaderNuts" doesn't get as much press?

"But come on, this is the year 2002, don't you want to be eating food grown in a VAT!?"

Well, how about drinking beverages grown in a vat? We've been doing that for millenia, and those beverages all contain 5-20% of a toxic chemical that can and does cause death when consumed in large enough doses. In fact, some beverages undergo post-processing steps to concentrate those toxic byproducts of microorganisms' metabolisms.

This stuff quorn may or may not be good or healthy, but this whole "it's new, it's evil, it's going to kill us all" thing bugs me sometimes.

On the other hand, saying quorn is made from "diminutive mushrooms" is qurap!

While I'd never eat this stuff (I'm convinced it leaked into our space-time from a Pohl / Kornbluth novel), I really don't think that making a few people sick is enough of a reason not to certify it: Milk products give many people gastric problems. Peanuts can outright kill those allergic to them. If you get the quorn queasies, just don't eat the stuff.

Of qourse: Stuff with quorn qontents should be qlearly labeled.

Quorn burgers are very nice. And a nation that can eat Twinkies can eat anything.

Hey, easier on the environment, low in fat...I'm willing to try it no matter what the article says.

I am puzzled by this article. Quorn is absolutely great. Almost everyone I know eats it, and I've never heard of any complaints.

Well, I tried some of their imitation chicken nuggets, and man, I didn't feel very good. I know I'm done eating this stuff! But come on, this is the year 2002, don't you want to be eating food grown in a VAT!?

Good lord, even the name is disgusting! Why not just call it "Splorp" or "Bleaaaagh"?