The Other Fake Meat

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The Other Fake Meat

Friday, August 30, 2002

By Steven Milloy

 

You might think the anti-meat food police at the Center for Science in the

Public Interest would be cheering the new meat substitute Quorn. Instead,

CSPI is scaring the public and bad-mouthing Quorn to the Food and Drug

Administration. Quorn is " the processed cellular mass that is obtained from

the filamentous fungus Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684, " according to the

manufacturer's application to the FDA. The fungus by-product was approved in

the U.K. in 1985 and is the top-selling meat substitute in Europe. The FDA

approved Quorn in the U.S. last January. CSPI soon went into action. Weeks

later, CSPI claimed Quorn was " deceptively labeled " as originating from

mushrooms and filed complaints with the FDA, and U.K. and European

regulators. In May, CSPI called Quorn the " new Olestra, " alluding to the

bogus CSPI-generated controversy about Procter & Gamble's fat substitute. As

with Olestra, CSPI claimed Quorn was making people sick. This month CSPI

issued media releases calling for a recall and claiming Quorn was linked to

" severe vomiting. " CSPI alleged in an Aug. 15 release: " One woman

experienced fecal incontinence in public places, while another feared

choking to death on her vomit. People have told us that they fainted in [the

subway] and on the toilet, vomited out the window of a taxi, and missed

work, Christmas dinners, concerts and other activities. " There is a

dangerous fungus among us, but it's not Quorn. It's CSPI. CSPI's claim that

Quorn is deceptively labeled makes a mountain of a molehill. Quorn's link

with mushrooms was made to help explain the product to consumers, according

to Quorn's manufacturer, Marlow Foods. Quorn is derived from a fungus and

mushrooms are fungi. CSPI wants Quorn labeled as " mold-based " -- implying

that Quorn is some sort of health threat. Quorn is currently working with

the FDA to refine the description. CSPI's health claims about Quorn are

completely unfounded. CSPI says a study filed by Marlow Foods with the FDA

found up to 10 percent of 200 volunteers experienced vomiting, nausea or

stomach aches after eating Quorn. CSPI chief Michael Jacobson may want to

brush up on his math, though. A closer look at the study indicates only one

person might have had an adverse reaction to Quorn. As food allergies are

common, this is no reason to disparage Quorn. Many consumers are allergic to

soy protein, shellfish, peanut, dairy products, and other foods. Marlow

Foods estimates the adverse reaction rate for Quorn to be about 1 in 146,000

consumers. This is 400 times lower than the adverse reaction rate for soy

products and over 29,000 times lower than for lactose intolerance from dairy

products. So why is CSPI trying so carnivorously to destroy Quorn? CSPI

appears to have an unsavory relationship with Quorn competitor,

Gardenburger -- a company that rails against Quorn on its Web site and

pesters the FDA. CSPI regularly promotes Gardenburger products on its Web

site and publications. In the April 1998 issue of its newsletter, for

example, CSPI stated: " Remember the saturated fat and the E.coli bacteria

that could be hiding inside [a hamburger]? You can keep the taste but forget

the worries with Gardenburger. " CSPI recently spotlighted Flame Grilled

Hamburger Style Gardenburgers as a " favorite " that " taste like they're hot

off the coals. " That's from a group labeling itself as a " nonprofit

education and advocacy organization that focuses on improving the safety and

nutritional quality of our food. " " R-r-r-i-i-i-i-ght, " as Austin Powers'

Dr. Evil might say. The president of Gardenburger e-mailed food brokers a

copy of a letter sent by CSPI to the FDA supposedly documenting adverse

consumer reactions to Quorn. The e-mail asked the brokers to send the

letter to retailers and notes " these are the same guys who hounded Procter &

Gamble until they finally withdrew the fat substitute Olestra from sale.

Net, I'd say Quorn's days are numbered . " This cutthroat e-mail is even

more sinister as it was sent to brokers the same morning CSPI sent its

letter to the FDA but a week before CSPI publicly announced its findings.

CSPI even told the FDA, " . considering the plethora of tasty, nutritious

meat alternatives on supermarket shelves, there is absolutely no need for

[Quorn]. " CSPI's attempted mugging of Quorn is also odd since the food

police usually target bigger fish like the fast food, soft drink and snack

food industries. hough CNN, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal,

and other media outlets have fallen for this scam, successful public

relations may not be enough to save Gardenburger. The company's sales peaked

in 1999 at $88 million and declined to $59 million in 2001. W can only hope

the same trend befalls CSPI's unscrupulous shrieking.

 

Seven Milloy is the publisher of JunkScience.com , an adjunct scholar at the

Cato Institute and the author of Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against

Health Scares and Scams (Cato Institute, 2001).

[Guest guest]

Steven Milloy is not exactly what I would call a credible or unbiased

source. It is apparent just from the tone of his article that he has an axe

to grind with CSPI. I checked up on both Milloy and his claims. Milloy is a

lobbyist for large corporate interests such as tobacco giant Phillips

Morris. He uses his JunkScience Web site to discredit scientists who

publish results that might be harmful to his corporate sponsors (such as

that second-hand smoke might be bad for you). I have included two links

below that detail Steven Milloy's background and industry connections.

 

http://skepdic.com/refuge/junkscience.html

 

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2000Q3/junkman.html

 

Milloy also authored a Web site attacking, of all things, Consumers' Union,

publisher of Consumer Reports. Consumers' Union has a statement about his

attacks on their Web site, see below:

 

http://www.consumersunion.org/products/distortsopi1299.htm

 

As for the article below, I think if anybody has an unsavory relationship,

it's Milloy. He states that CSPI " appears " to have an unsavory relationship

with Gardenburger. He really doesn't have any evidence of this except for a

couple of articles which he says " promote " Gardenburger's products. Here is

a link to the " recent article " he cites:

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/03_02/

 

It is actually a review of many meatless products, not just Gardenburger.

Gardenburger does get a favorable mention. What's funny about this is that

Milloy neglects to mention that Quorn also gets a favorable mention in this

article. Just scroll to the end and read for yourself.

 

Now let's examine Milloy's relationship to Quorn. Quorn is produced by

Marlow Foods. Marlow Foods is a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant

AstaZeneca. It appears that AstraZeneca is a client of Milloy's because he

has written other articles bashing their competitors and accusing them of

" junk science. " He wrote several articles criticizing Eli-Lilly's marketing

of it's drug raloxifene. Guess what? Raloxifene is a direct competitor to

AstraZeneca's Nolvadex, better known as tamoxifen. Nolvadex always gets a

positive mention.

 

In short, Milloy is guilty of exactly what he wants to accuse CSPI of. He's

the type that writes whatever his corporate clients want him two. Second

hand smoke doesn't cause cancer? No problem. People don't need to worry

about global warming? Whatever you say. Just read his Web site for

yourselves and you can get a very good idea of his agenda.

 

Just for the record, I have no affiliation whatsoever with CSPI, I am not a

member, I do not to their newsletter, and I have never donated

money to them. As for Quorn, time will tell. To their credit, they do give

allergy alerts on their labels, including gluten. From the information on

their Web site, it looks as if all but one of their products contain gluten,

so most of us will not be experimenting much with Quorn.

 

Melissa

 

Tea Cozy [teacups]

Friday, August 30, 2002 11:05 AM

Christian Vegan Cooking

Cc: SDA-Vegan-Cooking ; SDA-veg-recipes2 ;

 

The Other Fake Meat

 

 

The Other Fake Meat

Friday, August 30, 2002

By Steven Milloy

 

You might think the anti-meat food police at the Center for Science in the

Public Interest would be cheering the new meat substitute Quorn. Instead,

CSPI is scaring the public and bad-mouthing Quorn to the Food and Drug

Administration. Quorn is " the processed cellular mass that is obtained

from

the filamentous fungus Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684, " according to

the

manufacturer's application to the FDA. The fungus by-product was approved

in

the U.K. in 1985 and is the top-selling meat substitute in Europe. The

FDA

approved Quorn in the U.S. last January. CSPI soon went into action.

Weeks

later, CSPI claimed Quorn was " deceptively labeled " as originating from

mushrooms and filed complaints with the FDA, and U.K. and European

regulators. In May, CSPI called Quorn the " new Olestra, " alluding to the

bogus CSPI-generated controversy about Procter & Gamble's fat substitute.

As

with Olestra, CSPI claimed Quorn was making people sick. This month CSPI

issued media releases calling for a recall and claiming Quorn was linked

to

" severe vomiting. " CSPI alleged in an Aug. 15 release: " One woman

experienced fecal incontinence in public places, while another feared

choking to death on her vomit. People have told us that they fainted in

[the

subway] and on the toilet, vomited out the window of a taxi, and missed

work, Christmas dinners, concerts and other activities. " There is a

dangerous fungus among us, but it's not Quorn. It's CSPI. CSPI's claim

that

Quorn is deceptively labeled makes a mountain of a molehill. Quorn's

link

with mushrooms was made to help explain the product to consumers,

according

to Quorn's manufacturer, Marlow Foods. Quorn is derived from a fungus and

mushrooms are fungi. CSPI wants Quorn labeled as " mold-based " -- implying

that Quorn is some sort of health threat. Quorn is currently working with

the FDA to refine the description. CSPI's health claims about Quorn are

completely unfounded. CSPI says a study filed by Marlow Foods with the

FDA

found up to 10 percent of 200 volunteers experienced vomiting, nausea or

stomach aches after eating Quorn. CSPI chief Michael Jacobson may want to

brush up on his math, though. A closer look at the study indicates only

one

person might have had an adverse reaction to Quorn. As food allergies

are

common, this is no reason to disparage Quorn. Many consumers are allergic

to

soy protein, shellfish, peanut, dairy products, and other foods. Marlow

Foods estimates the adverse reaction rate for Quorn to be about 1 in

146,000

consumers. This is 400 times lower than the adverse reaction rate for

soy

products and over 29,000 times lower than for lactose intolerance from

dairy

products. So why is CSPI trying so carnivorously to destroy Quorn? CSPI

appears to have an unsavory relationship with Quorn competitor,

Gardenburger -- a company that rails against Quorn on its Web site and

pesters the FDA. CSPI regularly promotes Gardenburger products on its

Web

site and publications. In the April 1998 issue of its newsletter, for

example, CSPI stated: " Remember the saturated fat and the E.coli bacteria

that could be hiding inside [a hamburger]? You can keep the taste but

forget

the worries with Gardenburger. " CSPI recently spotlighted Flame Grilled

Hamburger Style Gardenburgers as a " favorite " that " taste like they're hot

off the coals. " That's from a group labeling itself as a " nonprofit

education and advocacy organization that focuses on improving the safety

and

nutritional quality of our food. " " R-r-r-i-i-i-i-ght, " as Austin Powers'

Dr. Evil might say. The president of Gardenburger e-mailed food brokers a

copy of a letter sent by CSPI to the FDA supposedly documenting adverse

consumer reactions to Quorn. The e-mail asked the brokers to send the

letter to retailers and notes " these are the same guys who hounded Procter

&

Gamble until they finally withdrew the fat substitute Olestra from sale.

Net, I'd say Quorn's days are numbered . " This cutthroat e-mail is even

more sinister as it was sent to brokers the same morning CSPI sent its

letter to the FDA but a week before CSPI publicly announced its findings.

CSPI even told the FDA, " . considering the plethora of tasty, nutritious

meat alternatives on supermarket shelves, there is absolutely no need for

[Quorn]. " CSPI's attempted mugging of Quorn is also odd since the food

police usually target bigger fish like the fast food, soft drink and snack

food industries. hough CNN, The Associated Press, The Wall Street

Journal,

and other media outlets have fallen for this scam, successful public

relations may not be enough to save Gardenburger. The company's sales

peaked

in 1999 at $88 million and declined to $59 million in 2001. W can only

hope

the same trend befalls CSPI's unscrupulous shrieking.

 

Seven Milloy is the publisher of JunkScience.com , an adjunct scholar at

the

Cato Institute and the author of Junk Science Judo: Self-defense Against

Health Scares and Scams (Cato Institute, 2001).