Guest guest Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 May 3, 2005 Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute By MELANIE WARNER http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/03food.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 do we know if Quaker's Ham and Cheese Grits are veg*n? someone asked me after reading this article I forwarded. Renee --- angelaseibel <angelaseibel wrote: > May 3, 2005 > Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute > By MELANIE WARNER > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/03food.html > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Thanks for that article, if I had seen it on the shelf I might have tried it, but with 3 kids now I don't think I will. On Behalf Of angelaseibel Tuesday, May 03, 2005 11:52 PM Quorn Lawsuit May 3, 2005 Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute By MELANIE WARNER http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/03food.html For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion list and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. ---------- -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 , Renee Carroll <renecarol25> wrote: > do we know if Quaker's Ham and Cheese Grits are veg*n? > someone asked me after reading this article I > forwarded. I checked the Quaker Website after reading the article, and it says that the grits contain quite a few dairy ingredients, as well as mono- and di-glycerides of unspecified origin. So, it is definitely not vegan and possibly not vegetarian. http://www.quakergrits.com/QG_Products/hamcheese.htm John Moderator, VRGParents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Could somebody cut- & -paste or write a synopsis of this situation, for those of us who don't want to join yet another online registration? Thanks! Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Thanks, John. I was also wondering about this product. Angela , " johncvrg " <johnc@v...> wrote: > , Renee Carroll <renecarol25> > wrote: > > do we know if Quaker's Ham and Cheese Grits are veg*n? > > someone asked me after reading this article I > > forwarded. > > I checked the Quaker Website after reading the article, and it says > that the grits contain quite a few dairy ingredients, as well as mono- > and di-glycerides of unspecified origin. So, it is definitely not > vegan and possibly not vegetarian. > > http://www.quakergrits.com/QG_Products/hamcheese.htm > > John > Moderator, VRGParents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 ewww... it also has msg, bht, and a bunch of different food colorings. , " johncvrg " <johnc@v...> wrote: > , Renee Carroll <renecarol25> > wrote: > > do we know if Quaker's Ham and Cheese Grits are veg*n? > > someone asked me after reading this article I > > forwarded. > > I checked the Quaker Website after reading the article, and it says > that the grits contain quite a few dairy ingredients, as well as mono- > and di-glycerides of unspecified origin. So, it is definitely not > vegan and possibly not vegetarian. > > http://www.quakergrits.com/QG_Products/hamcheese.htm > > John > Moderator, VRGParents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 , Elizabeth Bakwin <bakwin@s...> wrote: > Could somebody cut- & -paste or write a synopsis of this situation, for > those of us who don't want to join yet another online registration? This site will give you a login and password without having to register: http://www.bugmenot.com/ John Moderator, VRGParents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 , Elizabeth Bakwin <bakwin@s...> wrote: > Could somebody cut- & -paste or write a synopsis of this situation, for those of us who don't want to join yet another online registration? Thanks!Liz Quorn, from Marlow Foods of Britain, is made from a fungus grown in steel containers. It is fashioned into products like substitute fillets. By MELANIE WARNER Published: May 3, 2005 Quorn food products are sold in natural grocery stores and marketed as healthful alternatives to meat, but a consumer advocacy group says they are anything but healthy for some people. The group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says Quorn, which is sold as a line of frozen meatless dinner entrees, causes some people to suffer severe allergic reactions, including violent vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. The group is seeking to force an allergy warning label on Quorn products and yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against both Quorn's manufacturer in the United States, a division of Marlow Foods Ltd. in North Yorkshire, England, and Quorn's largest retailer in the United States, Whole Foods Market. The lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court in Texas, where Whole Foods is based in Austin, contends that Quorn is being deceptively marketed as a product that resembles mushrooms and that customers have no idea it is a potential allergen. A representative from Marlow Foods said yesterday that there was no need for an allergy label and he called the science center's lawsuit a campaign of " scare mongering safety complaints. " Whole Foods said it had no plans to discontinue sales of the product. " We believe Quorn is appropriately labeled, " said Ashley Hawkins, a Whole Foods' representative. " It is a product that continues to be in high demand in our stores. " A new kind of food, Quorn is made from a fungus called fusarium venenatum that was discovered by British scientists in a soil sample in 1967. Grown in large steel containers and fashioned into substances that resemble meat, it has been sold in Britain since 1986 and in the United States since 2002. Products include chicken- style nuggets, sausage-style links and meat-free hot dogs. The Marlow Foods Web site describes Quorn as a product made with " mycoprotein, " which is a " relative of mushrooms, truffles and morels. " In its marketing materials, the company has compared the production of Quorn to the fermentation of yogurt. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the science center, which is financed by foundations and rs to its newsletter, argues that Quorn bears no resemblance to mushrooms or yogurt. He says it is better described as a mold that has never before been part of the food supply. Some plant experts have also disputed Quorn's similarity to mushrooms. In a 2002 letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David Geiser, an associate professor of plant pathology at Pennsylvania State University, said calling fusarium venenatum a mushroom was like " calling a rat a chicken because both are animals. " At QuornComplaints.com, the science center has collected reports from 800 people in the United States and Britain who say they have experienced severe gastrointestinal problems after eating a Quorn product. Marlow Foods acknowledges that some people might be sensitive to its product, but said that the rates of such intolerance were " extremely low. " " The U.K. Food Standards Agency, the European Commission and the F.D.A. have all supported the safety assertion for mycoprotein, " said Nick Hughes, a spokesman for Marlow Foods. The lawsuit is part of a broader push by the science center to use the courts to advance its agenda. The group has long issued news releases and filed complaints with the F.D.A. and the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, it hired Stephen Gardner, a former assistant attorney general of New York and Texas, to serve as its director of litigation. " The regulatory agencies have very little resources and few guts to do anything, " Mr. Jacobson said. " We've been beating our heads against a wall for several decades, so we've decided to try something different. " Also part of the science center's legal assault is a suit the group considered filing against PepsiCo and its Quaker Oats unit for deceptive labeling. In one of their routine combings of grocery store aisles, the center's staff members discovered that while boxes of Instant Quaker Oatmeal Fruit and Cream feature pictures of farm- fresh strawberries, blueberries and peaches, the product contains no cream and none of the advertised fruit. In its place are less expensive substitutes - a " creaming agent " and artificial fruit flavors. Similarly, the center says it found that Quaker Instant Grits Ham and Cheese has no ham and no cheese, but rather textured vegetable protein and " cheese flavor blend. " Pepsi agreed to make changes to the labels, mentioning artificial flavors more prominently. " We're open to listening to legitimate concerns and we thought this was a reasonable concern, " said Jamie Stein, a Quaker Oats spokeswoman. In return, Mr. Gardner said the center had agreed to abandon its planned lawsuit. Click here to download a copy of Today's New York Times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 Ok. So Quorn is weird! It was never a food before and is totally manufactured to be a food. I don't really like eating something that was discovered in a soil sample. As for the allergen potential, this is a problem for ANY food. My brother is deathly allergic to mushrooms, my son has a severe allergy to eggs and milk, my cousin is deathly allergic to peanuts, etc., etc. I don't think you can get rid of a food for being a possible allergen or we'd have nothing left to eat. I for one won't be eating it due to the " weird " factor though. Jacqueline http://adhdnme.blogspot.com On Behalf Of angelaseibel May 6, 2005 10:34 AM Re: Quorn Lawsuit , Elizabeth Bakwin <bakwin@s...> wrote: > Could somebody cut- & -paste or write a synopsis of this situation, for those of us who don't want to join yet another online registration? Thanks!Liz Quorn, from Marlow Foods of Britain, is made from a fungus grown in steel containers. It is fashioned into products like substitute fillets. By MELANIE WARNER Published: May 3, 2005 Quorn food products are sold in natural grocery stores and marketed as healthful alternatives to meat, but a consumer advocacy group says they are anything but healthy for some people. The group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says Quorn, which is sold as a line of frozen meatless dinner entrees, causes some people to suffer severe allergic reactions, including violent vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. The group is seeking to force an allergy warning label on Quorn products and yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against both Quorn's manufacturer in the United States, a division of Marlow Foods Ltd. in North Yorkshire, England, and Quorn's largest retailer in the United States, Whole Foods Market. The lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court in Texas, where Whole Foods is based in Austin, contends that Quorn is being deceptively marketed as a product that resembles mushrooms and that customers have no idea it is a potential allergen. A representative from Marlow Foods said yesterday that there was no need for an allergy label and he called the science center's lawsuit a campaign of " scare mongering safety complaints. " Whole Foods said it had no plans to discontinue sales of the product. " We believe Quorn is appropriately labeled, " said Ashley Hawkins, a Whole Foods' representative. " It is a product that continues to be in high demand in our stores. " A new kind of food, Quorn is made from a fungus called fusarium venenatum that was discovered by British scientists in a soil sample in 1967. Grown in large steel containers and fashioned into substances that resemble meat, it has been sold in Britain since 1986 and in the United States since 2002. Products include chicken- style nuggets, sausage-style links and meat-free hot dogs. The Marlow Foods Web site describes Quorn as a product made with " mycoprotein, " which is a " relative of mushrooms, truffles and morels. " In its marketing materials, the company has compared the production of Quorn to the fermentation of yogurt. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the science center, which is financed by foundations and rs to its newsletter, argues that Quorn bears no resemblance to mushrooms or yogurt. He says it is better described as a mold that has never before been part of the food supply. Some plant experts have also disputed Quorn's similarity to mushrooms. In a 2002 letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David Geiser, an associate professor of plant pathology at Pennsylvania State University, said calling fusarium venenatum a mushroom was like " calling a rat a chicken because both are animals. " At QuornComplaints.com, the science center has collected reports from 800 people in the United States and Britain who say they have experienced severe gastrointestinal problems after eating a Quorn product. Marlow Foods acknowledges that some people might be sensitive to its product, but said that the rates of such intolerance were " extremely low. " " The U.K. Food Standards Agency, the European Commission and the F.D.A. have all supported the safety assertion for mycoprotein, " said Nick Hughes, a spokesman for Marlow Foods. The lawsuit is part of a broader push by the science center to use the courts to advance its agenda. The group has long issued news releases and filed complaints with the F.D.A. and the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, it hired Stephen Gardner, a former assistant attorney general of New York and Texas, to serve as its director of litigation. " The regulatory agencies have very little resources and few guts to do anything, " Mr. Jacobson said. " We've been beating our heads against a wall for several decades, so we've decided to try something different. " Also part of the science center's legal assault is a suit the group considered filing against PepsiCo and its Quaker Oats unit for deceptive labeling. In one of their routine combings of grocery store aisles, the center's staff members discovered that while boxes of Instant Quaker Oatmeal Fruit and Cream feature pictures of farm- fresh strawberries, blueberries and peaches, the product contains no cream and none of the advertised fruit. In its place are less expensive substitutes - a " creaming agent " and artificial fruit flavors. Similarly, the center says it found that Quaker Instant Grits Ham and Cheese has no ham and no cheese, but rather textured vegetable protein and " cheese flavor blend. " Pepsi agreed to make changes to the labels, mentioning artificial flavors more prominently. " We're open to listening to legitimate concerns and we thought this was a reasonable concern, " said Jamie Stein, a Quaker Oats spokeswoman. In return, Mr. Gardner said the center had agreed to abandon its planned lawsuit. Click here to download a copy of Today's New York Times For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion list and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 Thank you, Angela, for the cut- & -paste. I'm interested in this subject because I used to live in Britain and ate quorn (vegetarian options in the early 1980s there were rather limited, so it was a welcome offering). FWIW, I did not have any reaction at the time, and quite enjoyed the stuff. I wonder though, now that I've been exposed to a mold situation (20 years later) that has caused me to develop a strong allergy, whether or not I would have problems with the product at this point, based on the info in the article. Small detail, but one of the things that really bothers me about journalism these days is that they often don't get a few of the details right, which makes you wonder what else might be wrong in the story: << Grown in large steel containers and fashioned into substances that resemble meat, it has been sold in Britain since 1986 and in the United States since 2002. >> I moved back to the States in 1984; thus, quorn has been sold in Britain for longer than this article indicates. FWIW. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 11, 2005 Report Share Posted May 11, 2005 I appreciate hearing the news about Quorn products. I'm an advocate of truthful product labeling and I think that companies should provide us with enough info so we can make informed decisions. It does seem that eating processed foods might be a short-cut that eventually comes back to haunt those of us who go that route from time to time. A lot of veggie foods, especially those that are not organic, have lengthy lists of ingredients that I have a hard time pronouncing. However, I have eaten Quorn products (such as the " Meat Free Dogs " ) in the past. I liked the taste and had no negative physical reactions. Unfortunately, they are not vegan, so they are not going to be on my menu for the long haul. Before purchasing the product I read the label about what it consisted of and found it to be fairly descriptive. Perhaps it can be improved, but I think the company made a reasonable effort. Is it possible to disclose too much information on a product label, i.e, info that might be better documented on a web site or provided via customer service hotline? Would we want to have cereals, grains, etc. prominently label how many mg of (natural, unprocessed) rodent feces is contained in each serving? Comparing the two, a little processed soil fungus for lunch doesn't sound all that bad. - Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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