It’s neither meat nor corn. And it’s certainly nothing you want on your plate!

Why is the FDA letting this mold into our food?

If your doctor and better half are double-teaming you to cut down on eating meat, you know what comes next.

There are those hideous soy protein “burgers,” the ones that taste like ground-up marinated cardboard. And further down the buffet of fake foods you have wheat gluten patties and tasteless tofu dishes.

And while those imitation meat items might be either tasteless or just taste awful, they probably won’t send you rushing to the bathroom — or the ER.

But this phony “food” just might.

It’s a product that you can find in the frozen food case. And when you hear its odd name — Quorn –you would naturally assume it contains corn.

But it doesn’t.

It’s actually a brand name for an ingredient called “mycoprotein.” That’s a nice way of saying it. What it really is is a kind of mold.

Yes, mold. It gets fermented in a giant tank and then is made into fake chicken nuggets, “turkey” burgers and “meat” patties.

The Brits have been “enjoying” it since 1985. Then about a decade ago, it made its way to the U.S.

Now, since this was a brand new food ingredient here, you would think it deserved some kind of look-see by the FDA. But Quorn was allowed into the supermarket with no questions asked.

And shortly after its arrival in the U.S. it started to make people sick.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says it has received over 2,000 adverse reaction reports about Quorn. Things like itching, vomiting, diarrhea and even anaphylactic shock.

And even with all those reports and a class-action lawsuit filed against the manufacturer, Quorn is still on grocery shelves throughout the U.S.

One woman who sued said she got so sick from eating Quorn Chik’n Patties that she thought her “feet were going to come out of (her) mouth” because she was “vomiting so hard.”

But finally, after the FDA was notified again by CSPI about how many have been sickened by Quorn products, something was done.

Instead of being removed from stores, Quorn products now have this innocent-sounding warning on the package: “Mycoprotein is high in protein and fiber. This may cause intolerance in some people.”

But there is nothing innocent about this mold –or the side effects. And there is simply no reason to risk eating Quorn.

Sources:
“Time for FDA to protect consumers from dangerous “Quorn” fungus-based meat substitute” Michael F. Jacobson, August 18, 2014, Center for Science in the Public Interest, cspinet.org