The maker of controversial fake meats made of vat-grown fungus will make several modifications to its labels, including a prominent disclosure that the principal ingredient in the products, mycoprotein, is processed mold.
Quorn’s mold is combined with other ingredients to make artificial “chick’n” or “turk’y” “cutlets” or “roasts,” as well as other products aimed at simulating ground beef.
The improvements to the label resolve a class action lawsuit brought in federal court accusing Quorn of deceptive marketing. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which wasn’t a party to the suit, filed an objection to a proposed settlement agreement in that case, Birbrower v. Quorn Foods Inc. The center argued that the proposed settlement would have judicially condoned continued deceptive labeling of Quorn by letting the company use the term “mycoprotein” to disguise the fact that the main ingredient of Quorn is mold. The center withdrew its objections after Quorn agreed to additional labeling changes. The court then approved the settlement.
Some consumers have reported adverse reactions after eating Quorn, including vomiting, diarrhea, and, in rarer cases, life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. The center raised concerns about Quorn’s main ingredient in the early 2000s and asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove the products from the marketplace.
The center has received about 2,500 reports from consumers of adverse reactions to Quorn products. At least one death is alleged to have been caused by eating a Quorn product and is the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit. Another death attributed to Quorn occurred in Sweden. Both victims suffered from asthma.
Labels for all Quorn products will now state that “Mycoprotein is a mold (member of the fungi family). There have been rare cases of allergic reactions to products that contain mycoprotein.”
“Consumers deserve to know that Quorn comes from mold, which sometimes causes serious gastrointestinal and breathing problems,” said Maia Kats, the center’s legal director. “The labeling improvements we’ve negotiated with Quorn will help consumers understand what ‘mycoprotein’ is and that it sometimes does trigger adverse reactions.”
