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Urban Harvest

Confronting climate change and poverty, a new crop of city farmers comes of age in Africa. Table of Contents | Digital Edition
Guardian Environmental Network

Mystery Non-Meats

Going vegetarian may be great for your health and the environment, but one meat substitute may not help: Quorn. In September the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit advocacy group, sued the faux-meat manufacturer on behalf of a woman who experienced vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms after eating Quorn Chik'n Patties. The main ingredient in Quorn, Fusarium venenatum, is a filamentous mold that CSPI says has caused allergic reactions in more than 4 percent of Quorn consumers. Products made from the stuff should be labeled accordingly, the group says. Perhaps the fungus’s name, which derives from the Latin word for "poison," says it all.
Related Tags: vegetarianism
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Lindsey Konkel is a freelance journalist based in New York City. She has a master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from NYU, and her work has appeared at Environmental Health News, Discover magazine, Reuters, and elsewhere.