020507 New Meat Alternative Prompts Concern

Washington - Its maker says it tastes like chicken, while a consumer group wants Americans to be told it's a fungus and is calling for a complete review of its safety.

The product is called Quorn, and U.S. regulators earlier this year allowed one company, AstraZeneca Plc unit Quorn Foods Inc., to start producing it as a meat substitute. The company sells Quorn burgers, nuggets and other products.

In Europe, Quorn has become so popular over the past 17 years that it outranks soy as the top meat alternative, the company said.

But the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer group, on Wednesday wrote to the Food and Drug Administration to voice concerns about Quorn's safety and call for a thorough review.

"It shouldn't be on the market until the company has demonstrated to the FDA that it's safe," said Dr. Michael Jacobson, CSPI's executive director.

About half a dozen people have contacted a Web site Jacobson set up to receive Quorn complaints. They reported problems such as vomiting and diarrhea after eating Quorn products.

While complaints were few, they may indicate that Quorn causes problems in a small percentage of cases, Jacobson said. He said a previous study linked Quorn foods to vomiting and diarrhea.

The FDA has agreed that Quorn is "generally recognized as safe" and is further reviewing the product to determine whether to approve it as a food additive, an FDA spokeswoman said.

Quorn Foods Inc. acknowledged that some people do not tolerate the product well, just as some have trouble digesting other proteins.

With Quorn, about 1 in 146,000 people may have negative reactions, compared to about 1 in 350 people who react badly to soy products, said David Wilson, a Quorn Foods vice president.

"Our protein is incredibly safe and is incredibly well-tolerated," Wilson said. "It tastes great. It tastes like chicken."

If Quorn stays on the market, critics want the company to advertise the product as a fungus. Quorn labels identify it as related to mushrooms, which some call misleading. Quorn is a mycoprotein, a protein produced by a fungus.

In February, competitor Gardenburger Inc., a maker of veggie burgers that contain mushrooms, complained to the FDA that Quorn-product labeling was deceptive.

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