Feelin Quorny?

Last night I was watching TV and one of those Smart Buy ads popped up, advertising Quorn products. According to the commercials, this product range provides a meat-free, soy-free solution to meatless meals. I have never heard of this brand, so I decided to do some investigation on whether this product is any good and what are the pros and cons, as I think its important to understand a food before eating or recommending it to patients!

So what is the Quorn meat-free and soy-free solution? Quorn uses a product called Mycoprotein – 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 “texturized” into various meat-like shapes. mmmm, sounds tasty already!

Quorn prides itself on the fact that you will not be able to taste the difference between meat and their products – the texture and taste are almost identical to meat, without the saturated fat.

A little bit more about Mycoprotein. Heres the nutritional breakdown of mycoprotein for a 100g serve:

Nutrient	Amount per 100g*
Energy (kcals)	85
Protein (g)	11
Carbohydrate (g)	3
of which Sugars (g)	0.5
Fat (g)	2.9
of which saturates (g)	0.7
w-3 Linolenic acid (g)	0.4
Fibre (g)	6**
b-glucan (g)	4
Calcium (mg)	42.5
Magnesium (mg)	45
Zinc (mg)	9
Iron (mg)	0.5
Potassium (mg)	100
Vitamin B1 Thiamin (mg)	0.01
Vitamin B2 Riboflavin - (mg)	0.23
Vitamin B3 Niacin (mg)	0.35
Vitamin B5 Pantothenic acid (mg)	0.25
Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine - (mg)	0.125
Biotin (mg)	0.02
Phosphorous (mg)	260
Copper (mg)	0.5
Manganese (mg)	6
Selenium (ug)	20
Chromium (ug)	15
Molybdenum (ug)	< 25
Sodium (mg)	5
Salt (g)	0.0125

As you an see, its low in sodium and is a good source of complete protein, zinc and fibre. The phosphorus seems a little high – the Australian recommended daily intake (rdi) is 1000mg, however it is stated that doses of over 250mg at one time may cause stomach irritation in some individuals. Note that this is also an amount per 100g – some people have more than 100g, some have less, so your nutrient intake may differ.

So mycoprotein doesn’t seem too bad by itself. However, Quorn processes their mycoprotein for their foods and it is NOT the only ingredient in their products. Some products contained high amounts of mycoprotein (up to 90%), but some ready-made Quorn meals only contained 11% mycoprotein. So what makes up the rest? Here are some the ingredients I found that stood out:

• Rehydrated egg whites: This is powdered egg white, but should be noted for anyone who has an egg allergy.
•  Autolyzed yeast extract: Autolyzed yeast extract is a substance that results when yeast is broken down into its constituent components. It contains some free glutamic acid or monosodium glutamate (MSG) and is used as a less expensive substitute for MSG, leading some health and consumer advocates to object to its use in foods. As with MSG, the industry claims that yeast extract is a natural substance with no harmful effects, and opponents claim it causes a variety of health problems.
•  Whey protein concentrate: Protein isolated from cheese by-products. Contains lactose.
• Ferrous sulphate: a form of iron usually used in supplementation, however this form is not easily absorbed and is known to cause constipation. It also has warnings not to be used in cases of inflammatory intestinal disease (ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease) and with some medications.
• Thiamine mononitrate: a synthetic form of vitamin B1, known to cause allergic reactions in some people as it can be more difficult to expel from the body than natural forms of B1.
• Sodium acid pyrophosphate: this is additive E450, which is an acidity stabiliser used to help emulsify products. This accounts for the relatively high amount of phosphorus in Quorn. Long term intake of this can lead to mineral imbalances in the body and effect bone mineral density.
• Sodium bicarbonate: used to lower stomach acid. Can cause bloating, nausea and indigestion.

Not all products contained all these, but these were the common culprits. Check the back label of ingredients to confirm what is in the product.

So is it the real deal? I found many cases online in which consumers experience vomiting, diarrhoea and even anaphylactic fits after having these products. There were companies in the US who were trying to stop the production of Quorn due to its side effects. However, the continent of origin, Europe, only a fraction of their consumers suffered these side effects. Are these side effects due to the mycoprotein, or is it the processing and the other ingredients added to create the meal?

Also Quorn contains fungi, gluten, lactose and egg products – so avoid Quorn if you suffer from any allergies to these.

So would I buy Quorn? No. There are other meat-free, soy-free protein sources which I would use before trying Quorn. Beans, lentils, quinoa, eggs can all be used as excellent sources of protein and taste so good that they don’t need to be moulded into fake meat patties to encourage people to eat them. If people are wanting to reduce their saturated fat content, opt for lean pieces of meat over fatty steaks. The products seem highly processed and just because something doesn’t contain meat, doesn’t mean its healthy!

-Laura x

Theres something about a pre-grill-marked fake chicken called chik'n that doesn't sit well with me...