AGRICULTURE REPORT - Quorn

AGRICULTURE REPORT -April 2, 2002: Quorn

By George Grow
This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.

Some food stores in the United States have begun to sell a product called Quorn
(pronounced kworn.) Quorn looks and tastes a lot like meat. Yet it is made from a
fungus¹. A fungus is an organism that does not have roots or leaves. It lives on
organic material.

In Europe, Quorn already is a popular food with people who do not eat meat.
Europeans can choose from more than one-hundred different Quorn products.

Quorn comes from an organism called Fusarium venenatum. It is a member of the Fungi² family that includes
mushrooms. The organism was first discovered in Britain several years ago. Scientists found the fungus could be
made into a product that is similar in appearance to animal tissue.

The food product was developed by Marlow Foods, a business operated by the European company AstraZeneca.

Quorn is grown in large containers and then processed. The process produces a kind of food called mycoprotein.
The finished products sold in stores are made to taste like either chicken or beef. Quorn foods look and feel like
traditional meat products.

People who have tested Quorn praise its taste. The mycoprotein used to make Quorn products have high levels of
protein and fiber³. Some of the products have less fat and harmful cholesterol⁴ than chicken or other meat.

Quorn foods began arriving in American stores this year after the Food and Drug Administration completed a
safety inspection⁵.

Recently, one group urged the F-D-A to reconsider its decision. The Center for Science in the Public Interest
urged the agency to stop claims being made by Marlow Foods.

The group questioned the company’s claim that Quorn comes from the mushroom family. It noted⁶ that
mycoprotein is not a mushroom, which is a common food. The group says that Quorn is a kind of fungus people
do not expect in a food.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest also questioned the effectiveness of Quorn’s testing. The group
said some of the proteins in the product might cause harmful allergic⁷ reactions in people. It says the F-D-A
should require the company to test for possible reactions.

At the same time, the group praised the company for attempting to make a healthy product without harming the
environment.

This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.

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1 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

2 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

3 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

4 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

5 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。