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The development of a new food
Author(s) -
Edelman J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.280430407
Subject(s) - business , government (linguistics) , food safety , certificate , christian ministry , clearance , general partnership , marketing , food science , finance , computer science , political science , chemistry , medicine , philosophy , linguistics , algorithm , law , urology
Mycoprotein (trade name Quorn) is a new food developed via a fermentation process by Ranks Hovis McDougall PLC (RHM) after some 20 years of R&D. RHM is now in partnership with ICI for its further development. Mycoprotein has been fully cleared toxicologically and nutritionally and a ‘Certificate of Free Sale’ was given by the UK Government in 1985; it appears that this is the first ever formal Government clearance of a new food. Much of the testing procedure required for food additives or drugs is unsuitable, even impossible, for food, and both the company and the Ministry had a learning curve to follow during the development of an appropriate safety‐testing programme. Perception of safety by consumers is also vital to commercial success. Some hundreds of thousands of people have now bought and eaten Quorn products from supermarkets and in restaurants. So far there has not been a single reported case of imagined hazard relating to this totally novel foodstuff.