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# Posted 9:10 AM by Anonymous

WHAT'S IN A QUORN? In an article published on May 14th that has mysteriously disappeared from the New York Times wesite ("What's in Those Nuggets? Meat Substitute Stirs Debate,") Denise Grady explores the wonderful world of Quorn burgers. Quorn, a British-produced meat substitute is marketed in fake chicken patty form and has recently bombarded the US fake meat market (and yes, there is one). As a former vegetarian, I know the joys and horrors of soy "meats," that can be purchased in many varieties from "burgers" to "smart dogs" to "streaky strips" (I suppose they're legally not allowed to call it bacon), but Quorn is in a class all its own.

The Quorn controversy revolves around the way the product is described. The Quorn people want to call the patty a "mushroom burger" but the mushroom people are up in arms. Quorn, like a mushroom, is a fungus, but according to scientists, the two are quite distinct. Quorn, apparently, is more like a "mold" than a mushroom, and according to the mushroom enthusiasts, should be described as such.

As scientist Dr. Michael Jacobson notes, "I think they're concerned about the debasement of veggie burgers. Jay Leno is going to call them fungus burgers and ultimately that could hurt them."

Lest the veggie burger or mushroom be debased, scientists and meat substitute manufacturers are insisting that Quorn be labeled as a "fungus," or if they prefer, "mold."

I feel like if you're willing to ingest something called a "meat substitute" whether it is a mushroom or fungus seems like the least of your worries.

"But Dr. Jacobson said that many adverse reactions to food were never reported, and that the real rate of problems from Quorn was probably higher. He said his group had already received about half a dozen complaints from people who had eaten Quorn. Four had vomiting or diarrhea, one had facial tingling and numbness, and one had a potentially more serious reaction involving hives and breathing difficulty."

For god's sake, eat some meat!

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