AIBU to ask if Quorn is healthy or unhealthy....

[loveyouradvice]

I've a 15 year old DD who wants to be veggie...and adores Quorn. We're cooking lots with it and seems surprisingly versatile ... love Bolognese sauce made with it

But friends have told us to find out what's really in it and that we should avoid it if we want to eat healthily

I'd just thought low-fat mushroomy thing - seems brilliant invention

Whats so bad about it?

speakout. I know more about the quorn process than tofu, but just on the basis it tastes really bad to me and I have an intolerance (never used to), it's a no no from me (I'd like to say yes it's unhealthy, but it tastes so bad it probably isn't).

It never ceases to amaze me the crap that vegetarians (not all) eat. Quorn has to be the worst example.

LOL at earlier poster who said it's a

mycoprotein grown in large, sterile tanks
shudder

gracie vegetarians think the same of meat. It is often highly processed, carcinogenic, involves cruelty, and is often of questionable origin, as well as unhealthy.

Some really good points on here. I don't like Quorn because of the texture but then I originally went veggie aged 4 or 5 because I didn't like the texture of meat either. My protein has generally come from pulses, eggs and cheese. Now I'm moving towards vegan so things are getting harder. I always preferred soya stuff because it comes from a bean but I'd not considered the GM angle. Another dilemma!

camflower how else would you like it to be produced?
Industrial fermentation is used throughout many production processes in pharmaceuticals, for ingredients & additives (acids, yeasts) in the food & drink industries. Its not exactly traditional agriculture but it works, is cost effective safe. That'll do for me!

cost effective &* safe

rosey, i was just tickled by the earlier poster's reaction - you have to admit, something related to mould being grown in a sort of overgrown fish tank (but sterile!) doesn't sound terribly appetising

camflower - admitted!

you have to admit, something related to mould being grown in a sort of overgrown fish tank (but sterile!) doesn't sound terribly appetising

Sounds a lot more appealing than killing and animal, taking out its guts then chopping it up into small pieces.

I suspect quorn will be the next health worry. No idea how they can label it healthy when they have no idea of its long term effects.

Yes SimonBridges

Sounds a lot more appealing than killing and animal, taking out its guts then chopping it up into small pieces.

But Homo Sapiens have been eating meat for the whole of our existence.
I know of no culture that eats mould as a normal part of the diet.

Cheese

Whether your DD eats Quorn or not (and I personally wouldn't) please make sure she finds out how to eat healthily as a vegetarian. I don't mean to sound patronising, I'm speaking from experience as an ex-veggie who became seriously ill through lack of certain vitamins and minerals when I thought my diet was super-healthy (and it included a lot of Quorn). I now eat a small amount of high welfare meat but I do feel guilty about it.
If she wants to be a vegetarian, my advice would be to learn to love beans...and lentils... and tofu etc.

quooooorrrrn. the name is enough to put me off!

Sounds a lot more appealing than killing and animal, taking out its guts then chopping it up into small pieces.

No, SimonBridges, it doesn't. That's mostly how I like my meat. If not cut up, it wouldnt fit in the burger bun.

In the last 15 years, I have eaten quorn twice. It made me very sick. I would never touch it again. Dh loves it.

Loads of foods made using "mould", some containing it in what you eat.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold#Food Production

It’s not good to rely too much on one ingredient, in any diet.

There are loads of fantastic vegetables, seeds, pulses, nuts and other natural ingredients that can be used, try and introduce a bit more variety and cut down on the Quorn a bit.

Whenever quorn is mentioned on MN you'll get lots of posters shuddering in horror and declaring how grim it is. The drama about it making people ill gets ridiculous. Yes, it doesn't suit some but people are not keeling over in anaphylactic shock nor having organs drop out of their arses! I do wonder sometimes whether posters have any clue what is in half the stuff they buy in their supermarket shop as I don't believe for a second all of these people only eat food from their local organic butcher and their amazing veg boxes .

It's just an alternative to meat, something to add protein or texture to a meal and the vast majority of people who eat it are absolutely fine. I certainly wouldn't base every evening meal around it but then I wouldn't base every evening meal around chicken or kidney beans or carrots simply because we should be eating a varied diet in order to get the nutrition we need.

I know of no culture that eats mould as a normal part of the diet.

@speakout What the fuck do you think the blue bits are in blue cheese...?

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/12/quorn-revolution-rise-ultra-processed-fake-meat

“We have sold about 4bn Quorn products over 30 years and we know the safety record of the product is exceptional,” says CEO Kevin Brennan. “Any form of reaction is exceptionally rare, perhaps one in 150,000.” He says Quorn is “as benign as a potato”.

Lying bastard.

Quorn is fine. Some people are intolerant, but some people are intolerant to all kinds of things.

Soy/processed soy is also perfectly fine unless you’re allergic. Easy asian people are some of the healthiest on earth and they eat loads of soy. Don’t buy the soy misinformation.

But... there’s plenty of non-meat, non-Quorn options. Linda McCartney sausages and burgers are delicious, Fry’s nuggets, ‘chicken’ burgers and schnitzels are lovely. I have no objections to Quorn but generally prefer these brands.