Atkins and Quorn

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:51:57 +0000 (UTC), "Maggie Fox"
wrote:

Thanks JD for your help. I've been so confused on how to calculate net
carbs. Do I simply subtract the fibre content from the total carbs? If so,
that would mean that 100g of Quorn sausages are 0.8 net carbs (4.5 - 3.7).
This seems too good to be true to me! I'm just so nervous of eating so many
eggs.

Personally, I think I'd be a lot more nervous of eating vat-grown mold
than I would of eating any number of eggs. But that's just me. This
Quorn stuff makes Atkins frankenfood look positively enticing.

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:40:43 GMT, Kalish wrote:


Quorn is a...fungus. They tried to market it here as "mushroom"

True, it is. But: mushrooms are also fungus. Truffles are fungus. People
eat them all the time.

but it's mold (or mould if you're in the UK I guess), plain and simple.

Are you sure it's mold? I think that all molds are fungus, but I'm not
sure that all fungi are mold. But even if it is -- people eat that all the
time too. There have been quite a few threads lately on bleu cheese, but
no one has called it a "diabolical" food just because it's mold.

From the Quorn web page http://www.quorn.com/us/about/mycoprot.htm:

"The discovery of a plant occurring naturally in soil, and growing in a
field near the village of Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England gave
nutritionists the opportunity to develop a new food. The tiny organism,
which is a member of the fungi family, is used as the principal raw
material in Quorn food products.

"Quorn is the brand name under which products made from mycoprotein are
sold.

"This tiny organism could not initially be grown in large quantities, so
several years were spent finding ways of growing it to a larger scale.
After research it was found that the most successful way of growing
mycoprotein was by fermentation, similar to the process used when making
products such as yogurt. When it is harvested, mycoprotein has a similar
appearance to bread dough and is composed of a mass of very fine fibers.
Because of the similarity between mycoprotein and meat fibers, Quorn
products have a texture similar to that of lean meat, although non-animal
in nature."

========

I wouldn't get any more grossed out from eating Quorn than I would from
eating yeast or yogurt or tofu, or drinking beer. Just because something
is made in a vat doesn't automatically make it "diabolical".

Em

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 19:30:32 -0500, emkay
wrote:

Are you sure it's mold?

Yeah...MOLD. It seems to me the very description you posted confirms
that - it's NOT mushroom.

From the Quorn web page http://www.quorn.com/us/about/mycoprot.htm:

Well, that's like asking the used-car dealer if the used car you're
buying from him is reliable and in good working order...but anyway...

nutritionists the opportunity to develop a new food. The tiny organism,
which is a member of the fungi family, is used as the principal raw

Tiny organism member of the fungi family = MOLD. I read a whole
debunking article about this, how they originally tried to imply it
was made from nice lovely white mushrooms...ha!

products such as yogurt. When it is harvested, mycoprotein has a similar
appearance to bread dough and is composed of a mass of very fine fibers.

HAIRY MOLD! They're telling you right there!

I wouldn't get any more grossed out from eating Quorn than I would from
eating yeast or yogurt or tofu, or drinking beer. Just because something
is made in a vat doesn't automatically make it "diabolical".

Go right ahead...but why? Mold on cheese adds flavor, or has some
other function for the other products you mention. I never said it
grossed me out - I eat blue cheese. But I'm not going to eat mold
shaped into sausages unless there's a good reason. Again, go right
ahead if you want...it's still diabolical to me. It's in the freezer
case next to Linda's entrees. I would be interested to hear your
findings when you do. Kalish

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 01:14:22 GMT, Kalish wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 19:30:32 -0500, emkay
wrote:

Are you sure it's mold?

Yeah...MOLD. It seems to me the very description you posted confirms
that - it's NOT mushroom.

No, I wasn't saying Quorn is mushroom. I was saying this:

(1) Quorn is fungus.
(2) Being fungus does not automatically make it bad or inedible, since:
(2a) Mushroom is also fungus, and mushrooms are quite edible.

(3) Quorn may also be mold, I don't know. I haven't seen it labeled
as mold anywhere.
(4) But even if it is mold, being mold does not automatically make it
bad or inedible, since:
(4a) The blue part of blue cheese is also mold, and blue cheese is
quite edible.

From the Quorn web page http://www.quorn.com/us/about/mycoprot.htm:

Well, that's like asking the used-car dealer if the used car you're
buying from him is reliable and in good working order...but anyway...

nutritionists the opportunity to develop a new food. The tiny organism,
which is a member of the fungi family, is used as the principal raw

Tiny organism member of the fungi family = MOLD.

While it's true that all mold is in the fungi family, I don't think it's
the case that all "tiny" members of the fungi family are mold.

I read a whole
debunking article about this, how they originally tried to imply it
was made from nice lovely white mushrooms...ha!

It's possible to find articles debunking just about anything.

Was this debunking article by the ridiculous Center for "Science" in the
Public Interest, by any chance? I file them in the same category as the
Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine. Believe them if you want to.

products such as yogurt. When it is harvested, mycoprotein has a similar
appearance to bread dough and is composed of a mass of very fine fibers.

HAIRY MOLD! They're telling you right there!

They never say mold :-)
There are plenty of mushrooms (fungi!) that have "very fine fibers" too.
That doesn't make them revolting. (And it doesn't make them mold.)

I wouldn't get any more grossed out from eating Quorn than I would from
eating yeast or yogurt or tofu, or drinking beer. Just because something
is made in a vat doesn't automatically make it "diabolical".

Go right ahead...but why? Mold on cheese adds flavor, or has some
other function for the other products you mention. I never said it
grossed me out - I eat blue cheese. But I'm not going to eat mold
shaped into sausages unless there's a good reason. Again, go right
ahead if you want...it's still diabolical to me. It's in the freezer
case next to Linda's entrees. I would be interested to hear your
findings when you do. Kalish

Oh, I eat it all the time. The main reason that I do is that my husband is
a vegetarian. and it's easier for us to find stuff that we both will eat
rather than always cooking separate meals. He won't eat meat, and I don't
like the taste of a lot of the soyburger type things, but Quorn is a good
compromise -- it doesn't taste nasty like some of the soy stuff does.

Em

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:46:23 -0500, emkay
wrote:

-- it doesn't taste nasty like some of the soy stuff does.

I'm sure it must taste better than I am imagining it does.

http://home.insight.rr.com/gjpjr/pages/quorn.htm