To whoever wrote the thread about Aspartam a bout 1 1/2 month ago Thank you so so much!!!

[gorionine]

Sorry I cannot find the thread anymore, nor can I remember who was the OP. It was about Aspartame (I think it was the fact that they had given it a new name to fool people avoiding it) and amongst the posts was a link about bad effects it could have.

For over a year I had felt I had a personality transplant, and definitely not a good one. GP ruled out depression and said I was most probably exausted. I felt tired yes but also very aggressive all the time even to the people close to me that I absolutely adore. Also felt that everybody hated me.

Now I have totally stopped aspartam (I was sweetening most of my hot drinks with it)and a month or so on I am so pleased with the difference. Even the Dcs have noticed that I am "nice" again. In fact I cannot remember having shouted at them in the last few weeks at all.

So again Thank you, a 1000X

I am suspicious of it because it comes in a neat little plastic box and I don't know how it is made. What do they feed the little fungi on to get the myco protein? How to do they get it to stick together? I quite like it you see but I like to recognise what I eat I suppose. I also vaguely remember being told not to feed it to under-9 year olds which seems bizarre.

ok, have had a look now and can see that some people have a reaction to it that would amount to a hypersensitivity (not necessarily an allergy because most of them are not discussing allergic reaction symptoms). Don't know why - but I have had that reaction to frankfurters (or slurry inna tube, as I prefer to call them) so I don't eat them.

It is quite possible to be unable to digest quorn if you have a general problem with protein digestion; and it goes off just like other stuff; and it is possible to have an allergic reaction to it as well (like lots of other, especially protein-based, foods)

HTH?

FYI!

"Quorn - Production
"Quorn is made from the soil mold Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684 (previously misidentified as the parasitic mold Fusarium graminearum). F. venenatum was discovered in the soil of a farm near the town of Marlow in the UK in the 1960s.

"The fungus is grown in continually oxygenated water in large sterile fermentation tanks. During the growth phase glucose is added as a food for the fungus, as are various vitamins and minerals (to improve the food value of the resulting product). The resulting mycoprotein is then extracted and heat-treated to remove excess levels of RNA. Previous attempts at producing such fermented protein foodstuffs were thwarted by excessive levels of DNA or RNA; without the heat treatment, purine, found in nucleic acids, is metabolised producing uric acid, which can lead to gout. [1]

"The product is then dried and mixed with chicken egg albumen, which acts as a binder. It is then textured, giving it some of the grained character of meat, and pressed either into a mince (resembling ground beef) or into chunks (resembling diced chicken breast). In this form Quorn has a light brown colour and a mild flavour vaguely akin to a nutty beef, and is suitable for use as a replacement for meat in many dishes, such as stews and casseroles. The final Quorn product is high in vegetable protein, dietary fibre, and is low in saturated fat and salt."

from here

also
"Quorn - Controversy
"Its 2002 debut in the United States was more problematic -- the sale of Quorn was contested by The American Mushroom Institute, Gardenburger, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. They filed complaints with advertising and trading-standards watchdogs in Europe and the USA, claiming that the labelling of Quorn as "mushroom based" was deceptive. The CSPI, observing that while a mushroom is a fungus, fusarium is not a mushroom, and they quipped, "Quorn's fungus is as closely related to mushrooms as humans are to jellyfish."

"CSPI also expressed concern that some proteins present in Quorn could produce unexpected allergic reactions in some consumers, and continues to lobby for its removal from stores on this basis. But as others counter, milk, peanuts, soy, eggs, and many other foods are common allergens (often fatally), setting a precedent that simply being an allergen for some consumers is not a reasonable cause to remove a product from stores. Calling the product "fungus food", CSPI claimed in 2003 that it "sickens 5% of eaters" [2]. The manufacturer disputes the figure, claiming that only 0.0007% (1 in 146,000) suffers adverse reactions. Defenders of Quorn have alleged CSPI may be influenced by large soybean agribusinesses because Quorn would compete most directly with soy based textured vegetable protein.

"Quorn has been criticised by organisations opposed to battery farming, because although it is marketed to vegetarians, some Quorn products contain battery egg, the use of which many vegetarians oppose. For this reason, the Vegetarian Society does not approve these products. However, since 2000, part of the Quorn range has been produced using free-range eggs, including the pieces and mince ingredients."

from the same site. Site itself looks a bit whacko but the info here is taken from an external source and seems sound.

an article "A Mushrooming Quorn Controversy", it isn't a mushroom, it is a type of fungus but not mushroom, in Wired magazine

www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2002/04/51842

and a site that thinks it may be dangerous

www.cspinet.org/quorn/

eeeek!! Quorn! Eating quorn makes me very, very ill. Within a couple of hours I get stomach cramps, nausea and then "whiteouts"; you know, when you break out in sweat, your ears ring and you feel like you are going to pass out. Then good old double ended vomiting and diarrhoea. Very intense.

Took years to work out what was causing these occasional bouts of "food poisoning" as I'd only eat the stuff now and then at veggie friends houses.

don't know if you would call it allergy or sensitivity, just know that the last time I ever ate it/made the connection that this was the culprit, it was very, very scary how intense the reation was.

It does sound like a food-poisoning sort of reaction - it would be interesting (from my pov) to know what the reaction is to, i.e. whether it is the protein itself or some random waste products that get left in by accident, or what...

Sorry, whiffling out loud there.

Oh dear.... I used to buy the quorn bacon for a veggie carbonara. Perhaps after reading some of that I won't anymore. I don't like meat substitute foods anyway and have never used them much (except the aforementioned veggie carbonara).

Any ideas for a carbonara-like dish? Perhaps v. well fried field mushrooms?

stick to tried and tested foods as used by our grandmothers. Are you vegetarian MrFibble, do you not eat any meat at all?

I am indeed a veggie and never usually tounch the meat substitutes as they just don't appeal....

Normally I cook just about everything from scratch as I am extremely suspicious of the industrialisation of food production but the quorn bacon appealed. Ah well. Will have to find an alternative sauce.

you are right to be suspicious particularly with the increase in the use of GM crops.

MrFibble - can I recommend oyster mushrooms to you? they have a better texture than field mushrooms for things like carbonara, so long as you don't overcook them. They work very well in risottos too.

Duh - I meant don't cook them until they go squishy - and I probably should shut up now because we usually have turkey carbonara here, and the oyster mushrooms would work in place of the turkey, not the bacon.[fick emoticon]

do take care about soya, particularly as it is often marketed to vegetarians

www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/25/food.foodanddrink

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1173510/Why-soya-super-food-all.html

Soya products = vileness beyond belief (in my humble opinion)

Um.... Oyster mushrooms. Ummm. The sliminess has put me off in the past but I will try again. Thanks for that!

Oh that's interesting, I thought I was the only person allergic to Quorn. I've only eaten it 3-4 times, and I've always had a very extreme reaction to it, severe vomiting and feeling like I'm going to pass out. Revolting stuff.

I steer clear of as much soya as I can. It's hard to do because they are putting it into so much of our foods nowadays that you just can't avoid all of it. As far as I know the Japanese and Chinese didn't traditionally eat soya beans because they are dangerous. Here are some quotes from the Guardian article below

"Soya is used in traditional oriental diets in these forms, after cultures, moulds or precipitants have achieved a biochemical transformation, because in its raw form the mature bean is known not only for its oestrogenic qualities but for also its antinutrients, according to the clinical nutritionist Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story. Soya was originally grown in China as a green manure, for its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, rather than as a food crop, until the Chinese discovered ways of fermenting it, she says.

The young green beans, now sold as a fashionable snack, edamame, are lower in oestrogens and antinutrients, though not free of them. But raw mature soya beans contain phytates that prevent mineral absorption and enzyme inhibitors that block the key enzymes we need to digest protein. They are also famous for inducing flatulence.

Christopher Dawson, who owns the Clearspring brand of organic soy sauces, agrees. He lived in Japan for 18 years and his Japanese wife, Setsuko, is a cookery teacher. "I never saw soy beans on the table in Japan - they're indigestible."

www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/25/food.foodanddrink

and here is a quote from another Guardian article

"US nutritionist Kaayla T Daniel who has studied the history of soya consumption dismisses the comparison, arguing that the soya eaten in China and Japan, such as tofu and miso, is very different from the industrially processed variety used in today's Western food. 'Claims that soya beans have been a major part of the Asian diet for more than 3,000 years, or from "time immemorial" are simply not true,' she said.

The soya bean originated in China, and according to Daniel the ancient Chinese called it 'the yellow jewel' but used it as 'green manure' to enrich the soil for growing other crops. She says soya did not become a staple human food until late in the Chou Dynasty in 1134 BC when the Chinese developed a fermentation process to turn the bean into a paste best know by its Japanese name miso. The liquid poured off during this production of miso is what is known as soya sauce. She claims that the traditional process of making fermented soya products like tofu or tempeh destroys many of the allegedly dangerous chemicals in soya, unlike modern factory methods used today."

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/nov/07/foodanddrink.features7

Oh but it is hard to steer clear of soya - I know 2 young boys who are both extremely allergic to soya and buying soya free flour, biscuits, cakes etc is not easy. Vile stuff. Seitan on the other hand is quite yummy but that's a wheat protein isn't it? .

There are some very interesting links on this thread. Thanks everyone.

I eat quorn every now and then and have so far been OK. I will know what to cross out of my diet next time feel a bit out of sort though!

I gave up coffee, diet coke and all artificial sweeteners about 5 months ago as part of a detox, and I haven't gone back to them. I had not read this thread before, but just a few days ago, my DH and also my DS commented I was much "nicer" recently. I have noticed myself that I have been much more mellow but I hadn't put 2 and 2 together. Very interesting.

JarethTheGoblinKing ... No, until now, I had't come across anyone in RL who is allergic/sensitive to it either.

A few years ago the American organisation CSPI (mentioned earlier in this thread) were advertising in the british press for people to come forward if they had suffered an adverse reaction to Quorn. I did contact them and give them details etc, but when it became apparent they were trying to ban the stuff, I backed out. I felt that lots of poeple are allergic/sensitive to lots of stuff and we can't just ban it all. I know lots of my veggie friends just love the stuff. But .... I'm not going to feed it to my dc's that's for sure! Nor to myself

JarethTheGoblinKing your name made me laugh too as we must have some sort of spooky Quorn/Labyrinth connection! I also haven't come across many Labyrinth fans either! (it's one of my shameful secret favourite films)

It freaked me out - I can eat anything else, have no allergies, so something that's meant to be 'good for you' shouldn't make you upchuck like that. Haven't eaten it for 12 years.

At least I'm not allergic to ice-cream like DP.

rofl at some kind of Quorn/Labyrinth collaboration.

Ha, I love Labyrinth too but have never had a reaction to Quorn (have only eaten it a handful of times though)

I don't have any of these dodgy substances (aspartame, soya, quorn, sweeteners etc) but am also still a mardy cow a lot of the time.

I do eat a lot of chocolate though so maybe it's the caffeine (don't take it in anything else)

Hmmm. Perhaps the reason my mood has been spiralling down since I began this job is not because it's the wrong job, but because of the free Diet Coke that I drink 1-2 of every day.