Fwd: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

[Guest guest]

 

 

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

>

>

>

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

> Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

>

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

> Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

>

>

> WASHINGTON—An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

> accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

> people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

> Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

> fungus—mold, actually—discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

> sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

> a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

> have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

> they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

> vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

> anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

> and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

> The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

> serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

> the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

> Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

>

> Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

> Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

> time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

> violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

> didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

> time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

> eight times within two hours.

>

> “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

> of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,” said Cardinale. “Once I began

> to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

> people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

> company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

> these problems.”

>

> Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

> organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

> all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

> claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

> animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

> venenatum—“venenatum” is Latin for “venomous.”

>

> As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

> reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

> by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

> ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

> gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

> group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

> 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain—where the products

> have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States—

> commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

> experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

> people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

> peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

> British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

> on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

>

> “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

> healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

> customers sick within minutes or hours,” said CSPI litigation

> director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

> warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

> the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.”

>

> “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

> people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

> diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

> some consumers,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

>

> While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

> disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

> reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

> “generally recognized as safe.”

>

> “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

> about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

> FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

> supply,” said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.”

>

> CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

> 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

> secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

> formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

> Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

> spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

> helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

> dietary supplement Airborne.

>

> Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

>

>

> ###

>

>

>

> The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

> advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

> food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

> the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

> Healthletter and by foundation grants.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

> message with the word '' in the subject line.

>

> To edit your preferences, visit:

> http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

>

> Communications Department

> Center for Science in the Public Interest

> 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

> Washington, DC 20009

> (202) 332-9110

> cspinews

>

 

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

 

This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I've never tried it & NEVER will.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

 

 

Kathleen DesMaisons <radiantkd

 

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:16:19

 

Fwd: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus,

Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

 

 

 

 

 

 

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

>

>

>

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

> Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

>

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

> Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

>

>

> WASHINGTON—An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

> accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

> people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

> Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

> fungus—mold, actually—discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

> sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

> a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

> have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

> they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

> vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

> anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

> and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

> The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

> serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

> the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

> Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

>

> Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

> Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

> time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

> violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

> didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

> time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

> eight times within two hours.

>

> “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

> of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,” said Cardinale. “Once I began

> to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

> people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

> company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

> these problems.”

>

> Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

> organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

> all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

> claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

> animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

> venenatum—“venenatum” is Latin for “venomous.”

>

> As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

> reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

> by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

> ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

> gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

> group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

> 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain—where the products

> have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States—

> commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

> experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

> people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

> peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

> British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

> on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

>

> “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

> healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

> customers sick within minutes or hours,” said CSPI litigation

> director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

> warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

> the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.”

>

> “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

> people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

> diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

> some consumers,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

>

> While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

> disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

> reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

> “generally recognized as safe.”

>

> “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

> about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

> FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

> supply,” said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.”

>

> CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

> 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

> secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

> formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

> Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

> spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

> helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

> dietary supplement Airborne.

>

> Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

>

>

> ###

>

>

>

> The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

> advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

> food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

> the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

> Healthletter and by foundation grants.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

> message with the word '' in the subject line.

>

> To edit your preferences, visit:

> http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

>

> Communications Department

> Center for Science in the Public Interest

> 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

> Washington, DC 20009

> (202) 332-9110

> cspinews

>

 

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

 

This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Wow! Kathleen thank you for sharing this information with us! I always

felt afraid somehow to try Quorn, so I never purchased it, never ate

it. Glad I never did. I hope those who were ill have made full

recoveries, and I hope the company feels very ashamed.

Janine

 

On Sep 17, 2009, at 6:16 AM, Kathleen DesMaisons wrote:

 

>

>

>

>

>> News from CSPI <cspinews

>> September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

>> News from CSPI <cspinews

>> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

>> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

>> Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

>>

>> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

>> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>>

>> Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

>>

>>

>> WASHINGTON—An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

>> accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

>> people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

>> Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

>> fungus—mold, actually—discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

>> sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

>> a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

>> have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

>> they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

>> vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

>> anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

>> and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

>> The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

>> serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

>> serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

>> the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

>> Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

>>

>> Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

>> Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

>> time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

>> violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

>> didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

>> time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

>> eight times within two hours.

>>

>> “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

>> of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,” said Cardinale. “Once I began

>> to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

>> people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

>> company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

>> these problems.”

>>

>> Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

>> organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

>> all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

>> claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

>> animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

>> venenatum—“venenatum” is Latin for “venomous.”

>>

>> As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

>> reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

>> by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

>> ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

>> gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

>> group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

>> 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain—where the products

>> have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States—

>> commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

>> experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

>> people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

>> peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

>> British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

>> on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

>>

>> “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

>> healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

>> customers sick within minutes or hours,” said CSPI litigation

>> director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

>> warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

>> the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.”

>>

>> “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

>> people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

>> diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

>> some consumers,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

>>

>> While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

>> disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

>> reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

>> “generally recognized as safe.”

>>

>> “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

>> about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

>> FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

>> supply,” said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.”

>>

>> CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

>> 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

>> secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

>> formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

>> Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

>> spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

>> helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

>> dietary supplement Airborne.

>>

>> Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

>> serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

>>

>>

>> ###

>>

>>

>>

>> The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

>> advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

>> food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

>> the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

>> Healthletter and by foundation grants.

>>

>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>> To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

>> message with the word '' in the subject line.

>>

>> To edit your preferences, visit:

>> http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

>>

>> Communications Department

>> Center for Science in the Public Interest

>> 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

>> Washington, DC 20009

>> (202) 332-9110

>> cspinews

>>

>

> Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

>

> This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone

 

[Guest guest]

How did you find that?? So timely!

 

I have only had the Quorn crumbles and had no reaction at all, I wonder how you

would know this is a problem for you without trying it. I guess better safe

then sorry.

 

Heather

 

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

--Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

________________________________

Kathleen DesMaisons <radiantkd

 

Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:16:19 AM

Fwd: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus,

Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

 

 

 

 

 

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

> News from CSPI <cspinews

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

>

>

>

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

> Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

>

> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

> Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

>

>

> WASHINGTON—An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

> accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

> people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

> Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

> fungus—mold, actually—discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

> sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

> a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

> have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

> they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

> vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

> anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

> and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

> The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

> serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

> the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

> Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

>

> Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

> Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

> time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

> violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

> didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

> time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

> eight times within two hours.

>

> “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

> of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,†said Cardinale. “Once I began

> to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

> people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

> company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

> these problems.â€

>

> Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

> organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

> all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

> claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

> animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

> venenatum—“venenatum†is Latin for “venomous.â€

>

> As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

> reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

> by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

> ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

> gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

> group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

> 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain—where the products

> have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States—

> commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

> experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

> people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

> peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

> British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

> on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

>

> “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

> healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

> customers sick within minutes or hours,†said CSPI litigation

> director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

> warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

> the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.â€

>

> “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

> people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

> diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

> some consumers,†said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

>

> While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

> disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

> reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

> “generally recognized as safe.â€

>

> “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

> about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

> FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

> supply,†said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.â€

>

> CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

> 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

> secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

> formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

> Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

> spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

> helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

> dietary supplement Airborne.

>

> Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

> serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

>

>

> ###

>

>

>

> The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

> advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

> food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

> the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

> Healthletter and by foundation grants.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

> message with the word '' in the subject line.

>

> To edit your preferences, visit:

> http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

>

> Communications Department

> Center for Science in the Public Interest

> 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

> Washington, DC 20009

> (202) 332-9110

> cspinews

>

 

Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

 

This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I get mailings from CSPI <smile>

 

kathleen

On Sep 17, 2009, at 10:17 AM, Heather Butler wrote:

 

> How did you find that?? So timely!

>

> I have only had the Quorn crumbles and had no reaction at all, I

> wonder how you would know this is a problem for you without trying

> it. I guess better safe then sorry.

>

> Heather

>

> There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a

> miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

> --Albert Einstein

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

> Kathleen DesMaisons <radiantkd

>

> Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:16:19 AM

> Fwd: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-

> Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

>

>

>

>

>> News from CSPI <cspinews

>> September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

>> News from CSPI <cspinews

>> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

>> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

>> Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

>>

>> Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

>> Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>>

>> Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

>>

>>

>> WASHINGTON—An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

>> accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

>> people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

>> Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

>> fungus—mold, actually—discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

>> sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

>> a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

>> have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

>> they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

>> vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

>> anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

>> and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

>> The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

>> serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

>> serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

>> the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

>> Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

>>

>> Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

>> Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

>> time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

>> violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

>> didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

>> time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

>> eight times within two hours.

>>

>> “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

>> of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,” said Cardinale. “Once I began

>> to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

>> people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

>> company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

>> these problems.”

>>

>> Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

>> organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

>> all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

>> claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

>> animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

>> venenatum—“venenatum” is Latin for “venomous.”

>>

>> As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

>> reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

>> by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

>> ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

>> gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

>> group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

>> 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain—where the products

>> have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States—

>> commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

>> experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

>> people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

>> peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

>> British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

>> on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

>>

>> “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

>> healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

>> customers sick within minutes or hours,” said CSPI litigation

>> director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

>> warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

>> the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.”

>>

>> “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

>> people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

>> diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

>> some consumers,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

>>

>> While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

>> disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

>> reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

>> “generally recognized as safe.”

>>

>> “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

>> about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

>> FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

>> supply,” said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.”

>>

>> CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

>> 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

>> secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

>> formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

>> Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

>> spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

>> helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

>> dietary supplement Airborne.

>>

>> Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

>> serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

>>

>>

>> ###

>>

>>

>>

>> The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

>> advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

>> food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

>> the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

>> Healthletter and by foundation grants.

>>

>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>> To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

>> message with the word '' in the subject line.

>>

>> To edit your preferences, visit:

>> http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

>>

>> Communications Department

>> Center for Science in the Public Interest

>> 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

>> Washington, DC 20009

>> (202) 332-9110

>> cspinews

>>

>

> Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

>

> This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone

 

[Guest guest]

Gosh gosh gosh!

 

I am not a major fan of Quorn because I don't appreciate mock meats much, but I

was going to have some for lunch today.

 

I've had it rarely before with no reaction, I just don't love the taste or the

fakeness.

 

Mel , Heather Butler <hawaiihmb

wrote:

>

> How did you find that?? So timely!

>

> I have only had the Quorn crumbles and had no reaction at all, I wonder how

you would know this is a problem for you without trying it. I guess better safe

then sorry.

>

> Heather

>

> There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

> --Albert Einstein

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

> Kathleen DesMaisons <radiantkd

>

> Thursday, September 17, 2009 9:16:19 AM

> Fwd: Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored

Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

>

>

>

>

>

> > News from CSPI <cspinews

> > September 17, 2009 7:08:03 AM MDT

> > News from CSPI <cspinews

> > Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> > Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 17, 2009

> > Contact: Jeff Cronin, 202-777-8370, or Stacey Greene, 202-777-8316

> >

> > Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not

> > Disclosing Dangerous Reactions

> >

> > Vat-Grown Mold Tastes Like Chicken but Makes Some Violently Ill

> >

> >

> > WASHINGTON†" An Arizona woman has filed a class action lawsuit

> > accusing Quorn Foods of not disclosing on labels the fact that some

> > people have serious allergic reactions to the main ingredient in its

> > Quorn line of meat substitutes. That ingredient happens to be a

> > fungus†" mold, actually†" discovered in the 1960s in a British dirt

> > sample. The company grows the fungus in vats and processes it into

> > a fibrous, proteinaceous paste. But more than a thousand people

> > have reported to the Center for Science in the Public Interest that

> > they have suffered adverse reactions, including nausea, violent

> > vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, and even life-threatening

> > anaphylactic reactions after eating the patties, cutlets, tenders

> > and other products made with Quorn’s fungus.

> > The nonprofit food safety and nutrition watchdog group is

> > serving as co-counsel in the case. Connecticut State Marshals are

> > serving the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in that state, with

> > the suit today. The case is filed in Superior Court in the

> > Judicial District of Stamford-Norwalk.

> >

> > Kathy Cardinale, a 43-year-old advertising executive, ate

> > Quorn’s Chik’n Patties on three separate occasions in 2008. Each

> > time, within two hours of eating the product, Cardinale became

> > violently ill. Thinking she had had a stomach virus, Cardinale

> > didn’t realize that she was reacting to the Quorn until the third

> > time she ate one of the patties, after which she vomited seven or

> > eight times within two hours.

> >

> > “I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out

> > of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard,†said Cardinale. “Once I began

> > to research Quorn online I realized I wasn’t alone and that other

> > people had similar stories. It was unbelievable to me that the

> > company knew this was going on and wasn’t warning consumers about

> > these problems.â€

> >

> > Quorn Foods, which is British-owned, markets its signature

> > organism as being related to mushrooms, truffles, and morels, since

> > all of those are fungi. While that’s true, it’s as misleading as

> > claiming that humans are related to jellyfish since they’re both

> > animals, according to CSPI. Quorn’s fungus is named Fusarium

> > venenatum†" “venenatum†is Latin for “venomous.â€

> >

> > As early as 1977, a study found that some people have adverse

> > reactions to Fusarium venenatum. That unpublished study conducted

> > by Quorn’s developer found that 10 percent of 200 test subjects who

> > ate the fungus experienced nausea, vomiting, or other

> > gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with five percent in a control

> > group. The company claims the rate of illness is trivial, though a

> > 2005 telephone survey of consumers in Britain†" where the products

> > have been marketed longer and more widely than in the United States†"

> > commissioned by CSPI found that almost five percent of Quorn eaters

> > experienced adverse reactions. That was a higher percentage of

> > people than that of those who reported allergies to shellfish, milk,

> > peanuts or other common food allergens. Since 2002, more than 1,400

> > British and American consumers have filed adverse reaction reports

> > on a website maintained by CSPI, quorncomplaints.org.

> >

> > “It’s almost unheard of for a company to market something as

> > healthy when it actually makes a significant percentage of its

> > customers sick within minutes or hours,†said CSPI litigation

> > director Steve Gardner. “It is the company’s legal obligation to

> > warn consumers about these serious adverse reactions, and getting

> > the company to meet that obligation is the purpose of this lawsuit.â€

> >

> > “Quorn Foods should either find a fungus that doesn’t make

> > people sick, or place prominent warning labels about the vomiting,

> > diarrhea, breathing difficulties, and other symptoms Quorn causes in

> > some consumers,†said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.

> >

> > While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not

> > disagree that Quorn products cause sometimes-severe allergic

> > reactions, the agency still considers the Quorn ingredient to be

> > “generally recognized as safe.â€

> >

> > “At a time when the public and doctors are deeply concerned

> > about the rise in food allergies, it is deeply distressing that the

> > FDA knowingly permitted a powerful new allergen into the food

> > supply,†said Jacobson. “We call on the FDA to revisit its policy.â€

> >

> > CSPI’s litigation department has, since its founding in

> > 2004, sued a number of leading national food companies and has

> > secured agreements improving food labeling, marketing, or product

> > formulation with Anheuser Busch, Frito-Lay, Kellogg, KFC, Kraft,

> > Sara Lee and other companies. CSPI’s litigation activities helped

> > spur the removal of artificial trans fat from restaurant food and

> > helped return millions of dollars to consumers from makers of the

> > dietary supplement Airborne.

> >

> > Daniel Blinn of the Connecticut firm Consumer Law Group is

> > serving as co-counsel in the case alongside CSPI’s litigation unit.

> >

> >

> > ###

> >

> >

> >

> > The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health

> > advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition,

> > food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by

> > the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian rs to its Nutrition Action

> > Healthletter and by foundation grants.

> >

> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> > To from CSPI news releases, reply to this

> > message with the word '' in the subject line.

> >

> > To edit your preferences, visit:

> > http://www.cspinet.org/new/newsjournal.html

> >

> > Communications Department

> > Center for Science in the Public Interest

> > 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 300

> > Washington, DC 20009

> > (202) 332-9110

> > cspinews

> >

>

> Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

>

> This is Grace Unfolding, we are not alone