Quorn v Meat

Twisted_Cherry

I do like meat free soya products, the best 'mince' substitute I have tried is from Iceland - the shop not the country! :rotfl:

smallblueplanet

sam2481 wrote: »

I made Quorn spag bol earlier for my daughter and I. We enjoyed it but def going to look into the negatives now after reading Jamess post. Thank you

I'll be interested in any 'serious' anti-Quorn articles you find as James link is the only one I've seen (it's been posted on here before I think) and am not convinced by the site it's on...

Jamie_Carter

James_Lahey wrote: »

My daughter is a veggie which I fully encourage, I will not buy her quorn products beacuse -

"Quorn, in fact, is a highly processed food made in giant laboratory vats from a fungus (Fusarium venenatum) which is a mold, not a mushroom. An expert on Fusarium fungus, David M. Geiser of the Pennsylvania State University Fusarium Research Center, told the FDA that calling the Fusarium fungus that is the basis of Quorn foods a mushroom is like “calling a rat a chicken because both are animals.”"

http://www.foodrevolution.org/askjohn/35.htm

That's from a quick Google but there is plenty of info out there if you look (which I did when dd first became veggie.) Iirc it's incredibly processed just to make it possible for humans to digest then they add nutrients, vitamins etc. so the packet looks to be a similar profile to meat.

Just my 2p but I'd stick to other meat alternatives if you feel you need them (although if you are buying decent quality meat and also eat a balanced diet, I can't see it being essential.)

My mother has high cholesterol, and years ago (before the days of quorn), she used to buy TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) from a local wholefoods wholesaler. I don't know if this is the same stuff as quorn or not, maybe someone can tell us.

I used to jokingly call the TVP foam rubber, but to be honest, just like quorn it is flavoured by the sauce you cook it in. Obviously if you aren't a veggie, then you can still use meat stock.

Edit:
I've just found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textured_vegetable_protein

James_Lahey

smallblueplanet wrote: »

I'll be interested in any 'serious' anti-Quorn articles you find as James link is the only one I've seen (it's been posted on here before I think) and am not convinced by the site it's on...

I had never seen the link I posted before (and only read halfway before copying relevant bit and posting.) I did do a lot of reading a couple of years ago when I made the decision not to buy the stuff.
There are some more links here, again I'm just posting google results and haven't read any (or at least not recently.)

http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/

I'm not rabidly anti-Quorn and can't claim it's "bad for you." From past reading I think this stuff is a massively processed foodstuff made by a huge corporation. My personal preference would be for my family to eat locally sourced food as little processed as possible.

---

Edited to add this post from another forum which I found interesting -

"I used to be veggie - over 10 years - until about five years ago. I used to eat a lot of quorn.

One of the things that first got me thinking about quorn/soy was something that happened one Christmas.

It was a couple of days after Xmas Day and the turkey had been picked clean etc. My step-dad, a real nature lover, put all the scraps out for the birds and the fox we had coming in the garden at the time. Including the quorn fake roast thing I'd had.

The animals devoured everything, with the exception of the quorn thing. I saw the fox approach it, sniff it, and pass it by like it was an old tyre or something. It stayed out there for a few days, an experiment between me and my step-dad and it never got touched. It did not rot or decompose like proper food either.

My mom had had enough by thee fourth day and chucked it out. My step-dad (a true meat and fry-in- lard type of man) was delighted. I was full of bluff and bluster about it. True story.

It reminds me of that experiment quoted in Nourishing Traditions about the margerine that is left out on a window sill for a year, and no flies or anything go near it!

There are a lot of differing opinions on this forum about diets. One thing that I think we all agree on though is that modern processed food is crap - and that includes quorn/tvp. If an animal isn't going to eat it instinctively, then it's not proper food.

Whether you are veggie, vegan or full bore carnivore I think the best thing you can do is get good produce and prepare it yourself, raw or cooked. Whatever works for you and your body."

smallblueplanet

James_Lahey wrote: »

There are some more links here, again I'm just posting google results and haven't read any (or at least not recently.)

http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/

I'm not rabidly anti-Quorn and can't claim it's "bad for you." From past reading I think this stuff is a massively processed foodstuff made by a huge corporation. My personal preference would be for my family to eat locally sourced food as little processed as possible.

That link is mainly about people's adverse reactions to Quorn - well people have awful reactions to lots of foodstuffs, ie peanuts and yet they're still sold?

I agree with your opinion on eating food that is as little processed as possible, and we mainly eat organic, but on the other-hand I enjoy eating Quorn - probably the only highly processed food we eat.

So I still haven't see anything other than some people react badly to it and the local wildlife don't like it. Much though I often poo-poo 'scientific evidence' I wonder if there is any?

antrobus

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

My mother has high cholesterol, and years ago (before the days of quorn), she used to buy TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) from a local wholefoods wholesaler. I don't know if this is the same stuff as quorn or not, maybe someone can tell us....

Different stuff.

I know that TVP was manufactured and marketed in the UK by Courtaulds. That would be the same Courtaulds which was a well known textiles manufacture. Apparently there were similarities between the process of manufacturing TVP and the process of manufacturing artficial fabrics.

The similarity would be that they are both;

James_Lahey wrote: »

... a massively processed foodstuff made by a huge corporation...

More4me

I use to eat Quorn products until 2/3 years ago without any ill effects, something changed and I could not tolerate them any longer, nagging stomach aches. Switched to soya based products and all is well.
Others in the household still enjoy Quorn products and they haven't grown a sixth finger or a green nose.:rotfl:
Why is it that American Food & Drug Administration not making any noises but CSPI.

cybervic

Many veggie-meat are highly processed because there are is a demand to have a vegetarian product that imitate meat texture. Many vegetarian get by without any 'fake meat' anyway. It's a really good alternative for vegetarians who miss the meat texture, as well as meat eaters who want to cut down the intake of animal fat. I'd suggest mix half quorn/soya-meat and half meat to begin with if you are a sure how to use them.

cyberem78

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