Quorn sued over 'allergic reaction'

Published on Saturday 7 May 2005 02:29

THE meat substitute Quorn is at the centre of legal action in the United States from a consumer group which claims the food can cause allergic reactions.

The foodstuff, which consists mostly of fungus, can lead to "unsavoury gastrointestinal symptoms" according to a lawsuit filed by a lobby group, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, and Avery Goodman, a business lawyer from Colorado.

The class action is against Quorn’s US manufacturer and Whole Foods Market, an organic and natural foods firm which acts as a distributor.

The CSPI have run a long campaign against Quorn, which has been sold in Britain since 1986 and the US since 2002. It runs a website eliciting consumer complaints. The site warns: "Quorn is the brand name of meat substitutes that are made from a vat-grown fungus. Some people have dangerous allergic reactions to the fungus and suffer nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and hives or difficulty breathing."

The lawsuit has been filed in Austin, Texas, the home town of Whole Foods.

The CSPI alleges Mr Goodman ate a packet of Quorn Naked Cutlets in September last year, and "experienced a five-hour long bout of stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by two days of stomach pain". He purchased the product at a Whole Foods store.

Dr Michael F Jacobson, the executive director of the CSPI, said: "We are confident in this case. We have the facts on our side. We would like Quorn products to be labelled so that consumers are aware that eating them could lead to severe allergic reactions."

Quorn Foods Inc, the US subsidiary of the UK-based Marlow Foods, accused the CSPI of "ridiculous tactics" and attempting "to create publicity to undermine the credibility of Quorn over here".

David Wilson, Quorn Foods’ vice-president and general manager, said: "Business is doing incredibly well. We have five of the top seven items in the meat-free market here."

He said that Quorn followed labelling advice from regulatory bodies in the UK and America.

Two years ago, under pressure from the UK Advertising Standards Authority following complaints from the CSPI, labels had to be altered which suggested the key ingredient of the food was mycoprotein, a mushroom protein. It is now described as "a nutritious member of the fungi family".

Whole Foods Market said it would defend the US lawsuit.

Quorn is made up largely of a fungus that was discovered in a soil sample taken from a field in North Yorkshire in the 1960s. The product is processed to mimic the taste and texture of sausages or chicken.