Is mycoprotein (Quorn) safe for human consumption?

Question

There have been severe arguments over the safety of mycoprotein:

• Quorn is considered a healthy food in UK and Europe
• Some parties in the US have cried havoc
• It's quite discussed in Canada

Quorn claims it's safe and healthy:

The main ingredient in Quorn is mycoprotein, a high quality meat-free protein, which is naturally low in fat, saturated fat and calories. For example, Quorn mince is 75% lower in fat and saturated fat that even lean beef mince. It also has all the essential amino acids you’d find in other proteins like beef or chicken, so is an ideal alternative for healthy eaters and vegetarians.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a US organization, is asking for Quorn to be almost banned from consumption:

CSPI [...] insists that it be [...] studied more thoroughly before Quorn’s mycoprotein can be considered “Generally Recognized As Safe.”

Wikipedia on the controversy:

CSPI also claimed that Quorn could cause allergic reactions and should be removed from stores. Others argued that milk, peanuts, soy, eggs and many other foods are common allergens, sometimes fatally so, and removing Quorn from stores would set an unreasonable precedent. Calling the product "fungus food", CSPI claimed in 2003 that it "sickens 4.5% of eaters". The manufacturer disputes the figure, claiming that only 0.0007% (1 in 146,000) suffer adverse reactions.

This is a clearly falsifiable hypothesis: what percentage of mycoprotein eaters has an adverse reaction?

Answer 1

It is considered safe in Australia according to foodprocessing.com.au

Quoting the first 2 paragraphs:

Mycoprotein is used in a limited range of meat-free foods marketed under the brand name Quorn. Although Quorn products have been available in Australia only since 2010, they have been consumed in the United Kingdom since 1986 and in the United States since 2001. Because of this history of use, the mycoprotein in Quorn products is not a novel food.

Some consumers have reported adverse reactions after eating mycoprotein-based products. Research in Europe suggests that while most consumers can eat these products safely, about 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 people may react to them. Because it's made from a fungus, it's possible that some people who react to other fungi or moulds may also react to mycoprotein.

On the CSPI page you link to, they claim to have evidence of over 1700 adverse reactions to Quorn

CSPI has now received about 500 reports of adverse reactions from Americans, as well as about 1,200 more from the United Kingdom, other European countries, Scandinavia, and Australia.

CSPI also has a page on research, some of which is peer reviewed and published in notable journals, that show it can be unsafe in some cases.

Van Durme P, Ceuppens JL, Cadot P. (J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003 Aug;112(2): 452-454)

Belgian researchers identified a young woman who suffered a severe anaphylactic-type allergic reaction after her first ingestion of Quorn. Skin prick tests were highly positive with Quorn extracts. The researchers deduced that Quorn can be cross-reactive with inhaled mold spores.

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Hoff et al. (J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003 May;111(5):1106-1110)

These European researchers proved that Quorn caused an asthmatic reaction in a patient. They identified the particular protein that caused the allergic reaction. This paper is important.

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Considering how many people have been consuming it in the UK since 1986 it seems it is safe for most people to consume, while some people may be more suspect to adverse reactions. Further study is needed to determine the scale and extent of such reactions.