Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Hi to any fellow veggies, Countdown have finally agreed to a trial of Quorn products, :) my local one in Silverdale has a small selection but more than enough to save be driving to Onehunga or North shore :)

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Isn't Quorn one the ultimate of processed foods?

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Mrs DUP will be ecstatic. I'm quite chuffed, too. I always did like the Tesco's cottage pie. :thumbsup:

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Quorn is a super invention from ICI.

It is basicaly fungus grown in giant vats in the North-East of England.

In one way, it is less processed than many foods. In its plain form it is like diced mushroom, pretty bland. However, it is often used in ready meals as a mince substitute. Very easy to cook with. No nasty bacteria or ecoli. Unless you bring it with you to the kitchen.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Of course it's massively processed, based on what you say about the product the flavour must be entirely artificial.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

It HAS a flavour?? :D

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

I guess "processed" is a relative term. If you compare minced beef to minced Quorn, Quorn is less processed. No need for slaughter, rendering, mechanicaly recover etc. I eat mince, Quorn and even soya mix. Quorn is the one that need the most flavouring. I often let it sit for a while on some peeled pumb tomatoes and Worctershire sauce.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Quorn is simply not a natural product. It's about as natural as a hard boiled sweet, albeit with much less sugar.

It's mass produced funghi that's then processed, then frozen (usually) and then sits about in a deep freeze until bunged under someones grill or in the oven.

I have nothing against vegetarianism, but I don't get the eating crap full of additives and toxins in the name of vegetarianism?

It can not be good for you!!

For that matter most things that arrive in your shopping bag in a cardboard box or plastic vacuum packaging aren't good for you, quorn or not.

I envy vegetarians because they have the easiest ride of all choosing a lifestyle that could be really healthy, tasty, good food. Then they go an buy Quorn and ruin it all.

Bah!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

So which crap, additives and toxins exactly are in Quorn?

I wouldn't have considered it any worse light than any cultured milk products, yoghurt, mouldy cheeses or fermented products, yeasts, starters, kefir, tofu etc.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

I think you think I'm angling at the bacterial aspect, focussing on the funghi, which I'm not. It's the additives, preservatives, colourings that go into it.

At least a decent unpastuerised cheese is still a natural product that just been left to develop in it's own natural way.

The vegetarian lifestyle is one whereby it's much easier to find natural produce that is high in nutritional value and low in toxins.

And then the food companies weigh in with their powerful marketing conning everyone to use quorn as a healthly protein substitute.

That it might be, but price aside the same weight of Quorn has half the protien of a chicken breast.

I don't subscribe to a 'paleo' diet, I don't think it's enjoyable, nor sustainable ... but there is something to be said for eating as naturally as possible for the main part.

It's probably true that "a little of what you fancy does you good", but does Quorn really fall in to that catagory? Is it really a product worthy of being called a treat?

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

TommyLuck, I'm sure we would all be interested to know where you are getting your information and whether you can point us to the peer reviewed articles that back up your assertion that Quorn is "crap full of additives and toxins".

You state that there is

"powerful marketing conning everyone to use quorn as a healthly protein substitute. That it might be, but price aside the same weight of Quorn has half the protien of a chicken breast."

Which takes no account of the drugs and hormones which are pumped into the average battery farmed hen.

In my, fairly limited, research I found that Quorn had been challenged in america by The American Mushroom Institute who contended that it is not mushroom based (as I think some advertising had indicated) but is in fact a fungi. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (in America) raised concerns over research that suggested it "sickens 4.5% of eaters". That figure was disputed by both the company, citing a possible allegic reaction in 0.0007% and also by a number of academics.

A gut feeling that Quorn is a processed product that "can not be good for you!!" really doesn't give us a clue as to what evidence you are basing these statements on.

And yes to put things in context the Evans family had Quorn curry for dinner last night, and very yummy it was too.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

WoooooooHooooooo!!!!!
Just been to New World in New Plymouth and they had Quorn. We quite literally emptied the freezer!

Back to the other point, beyond fruit and veg, what isn't processed these days? Cheese? Do me a favour. Meat/poultry? Have you seen what they are fed on? Pasta? Ham? Bacon?
And no I'm not a veggie, not even close.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

You are absolutely right, hence my comment about a vegetarian lifestyle being much easier to find fresh produce, with high nutritional value, low in toxins.

It's extremely difficult to find lovingly reared, fresh, natural meat and fish. No hormones, not force fed.

It is possible to find ham and bacon that isn't processed. I make mine at home, though true enough I don't rear and kill the piggy myself. I will buy a cut from the butcher and age and dry the meat my self.

It's the way forward.

I make my own sausages from scratch too.

So why, when you're avoiding this by definition of being vegetarian would you turn to a product that is vat made and is certainly not a freshly made and prepared, ergo whilst it may satiate you and taste good, this doesn't mean it is good for you.

By the way I use the same soap box for 'healthy' cereal bars, low fat or light products, etc.

The latest thing to take off in the UK - The Breakfast Biscuit - do me a favour!! :sneaky:

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Best you bubble wrap and pack that soap box cos you'll be needing it in NZ too, especially when you find the Belvita breakfast buscuits are not unique to UK. :lol:

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

"this doesn't mean it is good for you."
So, let me get this clear are you saying it is bad for you?
Based on what empirical evidence?

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

"As sales of frozen burgers have tumbled amid further evidence of horsemeat in a range of meat products including ready meals, Quorn – the UK's biggest vegetarian ready meal brand – said last week that it had seen sales growth more than double in the second half of February as shoppers snapped up its burgers, mince and sausages made from a form of fungus."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/ma...scandal-survey

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Yes it is bad for you. In order to be a food that starts as a fungus, cultivated in a vat and turned into 'food' there are too many addetives and preservatives going in to this product for it to benefit your health.

Sure enough, it wont kill you stone dead, but over time it wont do you any favours.

Look around you. Obeseity and overweight people are all around us. Billions of people are lead to this by being coerced in to making the wrong choices.

I was a case in point. Until recently.

You want empirical evidence?

I'm a sporty person; Cycling (80-100 miles a week), Football (one 11 a-side game a week), gym (3-5 times a week).

Check out this link;

http://www.finalphasefitness.co.uk/before-and-after/

The guy labelled 'Sam', is me.

I by and large cut out the 'crap' food and that is what happened over the course of 6 months. My exercise regime has been the same throughout.

I have since improved further on the picture on the right.


I have absolutely NO problem with people who are happy with themselves, whatever weight they carry.

How can I judge? I was once 18 stone, although 15 and half stone in the picture on the left.

But in my recent experience many are not.

My fat (not weight!!!) loss has lead to many a person cornering me to ask how I did it. I explain the basic principles and people are appalled (almost offended) when I tell them the list of things they shouldn't be eating.

What bothers me is gigantic food corperations fooling everyone in sundry that they are eating healthily when they are not. Quorn is a case in point.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

:rofl:

Thankfully, it's just as well I can choose not to buy them in NZ, as I do in the UK.

We all like a treat, I went for a few beers and curry last night after going to watch some football.

But what is essentially a treat for breakfast, and a pretty average treat to boot - is marketed as a healthly breakfast option and people buy in to it.

Of course, 'lil old me cant hope to complete with a multi-multi-billion dollar industry. I can but try from my soap box.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Sorry Tommy but that is not empirical evidence that Quorn is bad for you, only evidence that a change in diet and exercise habits will impact on your health and weight.

So far all we have is your opinion. What exactly is added to Quorn during it's production? Have you worked in the factory that makes it? Can you give us a detailed list?

In 2008 I took up running and cycling and changed my diet. I lost just over 15kg and also had a number of people asking how I did it. My answer is simply exercise more and eat less. Which is what I did.
However, I could state that I decreased my intact of red meat and increased my intake of Quorn and use that as some kind of justification for the following statement

QUORN IS GOOD FOR YOU

Clearly basing that statement on that evidence would be total nonsense.

So I'm afraid you still have provided nothing in terms of justification of your views on Quorn.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

To be honest my last post was a holding post.

I'm going to the supermarket this evening and am going to take a snapshot of the nutritional information and ingredients of Quorn.

Frankly however, anything that isn't meat but is made to look like meat, which some Quorn products are, just isn't right. It has to have been modified so much, it'll be nowhere near its natural state.

Nutritionists the world over will tell you that one should really eat products that are in their natural state, where possible.

Which is why someone like Dr Lustig (look him up) will tell you that fruit juice is no good, but whole fruit is fine.

And, I would wholly disagree with this;

"My answer is simply exercise more and eat less."

It's not scientific enough and is exactly the view that food companies use to market their "healthy" options.

If anything, I eat MORE!!!

Not all calories are made equal, again something Lustig would agree with.

If I'm eating 100 calories of a chocolate bar (bad carbs), compared to 100 calories of salmon (protein) they both have a very different effect on the metabolism of the body.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

You would wholly disagree with my description of how I lost 15kg and improved my fitness?

Brilliant, I must have imagined the whole thing. But thanks for the useful info on carbs I had no idea that the calorific content of chocolate is different to that of salmon...........

I think I'll save people from the boredom of me describing my diet or exercise regime, here or elsewhere online and go for a long run with some top quality trance instead.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Why not just use mushrooms? :blink: Portabello mushrooms have a lovely meaty flavour and texture.

Andy got any recommendations (sorry changing subject), I have a load of Global Underground/Sasha/John Digweed/Oakenfold mixes, which are getting a bit stale and since moved on to DNB.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Now we're talking! I have loads of Global Underground, Sasha, Digweed etc too. Was really into breakbeat for a while too but for running there is nothing better than Above & Beyond, either the old podcasts 'Trance Around the World' (250 is my fave) or the new 'Group Therapy' podcasts. They are all available to download. I also really like the Eric Prydz podcast and for D&B I still really rate High Contrast and the Hospital Radio podcasts.
Think I might post separately about my new gadget that I am listening to a podcast on right now.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Well who'd of thought one little comment for my fellow veggie friends would cause such a debate! Me personally, i dont really care what goes in it, i like it and will carry on eating it as im sure will many. We all have a choice what we put in our bodies and there is good and bad in most things, but hey we only have one life and its up to all of us what we do with it. :)

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

May as well use mushrooms and add some spice then. Probably a whole lot cheaper and healthier too. I never really got the Quorn thing in the UK. If yu are veggie why do you need a meat subsitute?
Kaz

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Protein. Variety. Texture.

Just a guess on my part.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

For us it's the mince and the pieces that mean that as a family (where only my wife is a vegetarian) we can easily knock up meals that we will all eat (chilli, wraps, curry, lasagne etc) rather than cooking 2 separate dishes.
In addition, stuff like chicken nuggets (when the kids were younger) have such a lot of crap in them that I used to make my own or use the Quorn ones which ultimately I felt were a bit better health wise.
Ultimately it's all about personal choice isn't it? I make no claim to eat the healthiest of diet, Quorn or otherwise, but I also don't drink 10L of coke a day and never eat at MacDonalds, KFC or Subway. So while I won't tell you Quorn is the healthiest food on the planet I'll eat what I jolly well choose to and the food nazis can stick their macrobiotic, sugar-free, yoghurt-knitting, diet fad, holier than thou ideas in the processor with their hideous green smoothies!!!!!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

You have made my night!!! Quorn is what I miss the most, second to family and friends! Yay! I'm back to being a veggie! No need for chicken anymore.

And for those who say it has no taste, maybe not but it picks up the flavours of a mean curry!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Mate ! Difficult to get a flavoursome chicken that one can afford anyway. Am wanting a neighbour with land to grow up some meat chickens but am meeting with resistance, At least that way I'd know they were organic and fed well with happy lives.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Heathergirl, you'll need to be quick, it seems every time we go into countdown or new world now we empty their freezer of Quorn products!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Moving to New Plymouth in mid April Andy (just as well as I can't see Quorn taking off in Hawera). See you at the Quorn section, perhaps there will be fistycuffs over the last packet of Swedish "meatballs".
:eek:

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Ah well we must meet up I think. No swedish meatballs yet! Countdown has pieces, mince, nuggets, burgers, southern style burgers and a couple of others that i can't remember. It is made in Oz now so it looks like it might be here to stay.
Are you going to be teaching in NP?

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Hawera's New World has Quorn in stock and I've just been down and cleaned them out!

Will be working in Hawera this year - doing the dreaded commute but I think it's worth it. I'll give you a shout when we're settled and we'll have a BE meet up!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

I've just checked on the newer Countdown in Dunedin and they do stock it too, well out of my price range though.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Isn't it about $9 for 300g which works out about the same as the chicken we buy ($22 per kg)? One bag of that does curry for the 4 of us.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

It's £1.89 each or 3 for £5 at the Asda back in the UK. I could afford Quorn back in the UK but $9 for a bag here is way too much for me.

I'm not sure how much chicken is, I'm a veggie.

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Oh, so the fish and chip supper is off is it ? Or will you just have chips should we ever venture down Dunedin way ?

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

Yeah it is mad expensive when compared to the UK, but what isn't?
(rhetorical question not designed to provoke tedious response from forum members who believe that the sun shines out of NZ)

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

For the price of 6 quorn sausages I could feed the entire street down at our local chippy!

Re: Veggies Delight, Quorn arrives in Countdown!!!
 

I used to eat Quorn in Britain about 20 years ago when it was the low fat wonder food of the day. I thought that buying it and cooking with it would help take the pressure off the world's natural resources. As takes a right load of water and feed plus other expenses just to get one animal to slaughter.

This was back in the day when I also tried to have one meat free dinner per week.

My husband was sceptical of what Quorn actually was. Describing it as mushrooms and egg white just made him :confused:

When I felt it took longer to prepare a ratatouille or a stuffed aubergine meal I just thought, sod it, we'll be having meat dinners from now on. TVP ? Textured Vegetable Protein ? Don't even go there !

(Matt, so chips are ok then ?)