:This article is about the meat substitute. See Quorn (disambiguation) for other usesQuorn is the trademark of a fungus-based food product, sold (largely in Europe) as a meat substitute to vegetarians and the health conscious.
Quorn is made from the soil mold Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684 (previously misidentified as the parasitic mold Fusarium graminearum ). F. venenatum was discovered in the soil of a farm near the town of Marlow in the UK in the 1960s. The fungus is grown in continually- oxygenated water in large sterile fermentation tanks. During the growth phase glucose is added as a food for the fungus, as are various vitamins and minerals (to improve the food-value of the resulting product). The resulting mycoprotein is then extracted and heat-treated to remove excess levels of RNA (previous attempts at producing such fermented protein foodstuffs were thwarted by excessive levels of DNA or RNA, which can be toxic in high concentrations). The product is then dried and mixed with chicken egg albumen, which acts as a binder. It is then textured, giving it some of the grained character of meat, and pressed either into a mince (resembling ground beef) or into chunks (resembling diced chicken breast). In this form Quorn has a light brown colour and a mild flavour vaguely akin to a nutty beef, and is suitable for use as a replacement for meat in many dishes, such as stews and casseroles. The final Quorn product is high in vegetable protein, dietary fibre, and is low in saturated fatA saturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there are no double bonds between the carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. Saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature. Diets high in saturated fat correlate in some studies with an increased incide and salt.
The patentA patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally 20 years from the filing date). The term "patent" originates from the term patere which means to lay open (to public inspectios for the production technology used to produce Quorn are owned by its inventors, Marlow Foods . Marlow was a subsidiary of pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca but is now privately owned. Contrary to some suggestions, Quorn is not genetically modified: the fungus used is still genetically unmodified from in the state in which it was discovered. The different tastes and forms of Quorn are results of industrial processing of the raw fungus. Marlow sells Quorn brand mycoprotein in its two ready-to-cook forms, and has recently introduced a range of chilled vegetarian entrees based on Quorn.
The fungus was discovered in the 1960s, but remained something of a scientific curiosity until 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i. At that time food economists theorised that the world would soon experience a significant shortage of dietary protein (although this never came to be). Several companies pursued the commercial development of fungal protein products, of which Quorn was the most successful. Quorn was first test-marketed in the UK in 19851985 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January events January 1 Creation of the Internet's Domain Name System. January 17 British Telecom annouces they are going to abolish the famous red telephone boxes. January 23 A debate in the House of Lor (although the product was not in general nationwide distribution until 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an), and introduced into other parts of Europe in the late 1990s. As of 2004 it is also available in stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
Its 2002 debut in the USA was more problematic - the sale of Quorn was contested by The American Mushroom Institute, Gardenburger , and the Center for Science in the Public Interest . They filed complaints with advertising and trading-standards watchdogs in Europe and the USA, claiming that the labelling of Quorn as "mushroom based" was deceptive. The CSPI, observing that while a mushroom is a fungus, fusarium is not a mushroom, quipped "Quorn's fungus is as closely related to mushrooms as humans are to jellyfish." CSPI also expressed concern that the novel proteins present in Quorn could produce unexpected allergic reactions in some consumers, and continues to lobby for its removal from stores on this basis. Calling the product "fungus food", CSPI claimed in 2003 that it "sickens 5% of eaters" [1]. Defenders of Quorn have alleged CSPI maybe influenced by large soybean agribusinesses because Quorn would compete most directly with soy based textured vegetable protein.
