Sami Greenbury
Technology, Teaching & Travel

Is Quorn/Mycoprotein tested on Animals?

With Quorn releasing a vegan range of goodies this Autumn there has been lots of back and forward about whether Quorn is animal tested.

There are very few online sources for anything so I thought I’d post my modest contribution.

First, a quick clarification. Mycoprotein is a type of Fungi and the the base of Quorn. Quorn are pretty much the only company who uses Mycoprotein.

Here is The Vegan Society’s tweet which seems to be the “Yes it’s animal tested” source:

I wrote to Quorn to ask if they could comment on the tweet (since they didn’t reply to it publicly). Here’s the reply I got:

Dear Sami

Further to your recent email.

Is Mycoprotein tested on animals?

Mycoprotein was first discovered by Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1968. In order to satisfy the requirements of the Governments Ministry of Agriculture Fishery and Foods that Mycoprotein was safe for human consumption, a series of animal feeding trials were requested to be carried out.

Since 1995 there have been no further requirements for feeding trials and there are categorically no plans or requirements to carry out any additional work.

In a September 2015 statement, The Vegan Society said “It is good news that a major food manufacturer such as Quorn is seeking to meet consumer demand by producing an animal-free version of their products.”

We hope this clarifies our position.

Kind regards
Consumer Services Dept

I’ve looked but not been able to find the tweet from TVS they’ve mentioned, if I get hold of it I’ll add a link,

So yes, Quorn is animal tested, but it is no longer animal tested. So now it comes down to whether you’re happy to purchase a product with essentially a “Fixed cut off date” animal testing policy or whether you’re in the “Never Ever” animal testing group.

Before jumping to assumptions about where you’re Ideology lies work out where it actually lies, don’t boycott Quorn’s attempt to do a good thing but not every other company who has a fixed cut off date.

Read up on the different animal testing policies, look at your lifestyle, and make an educated decision. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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3 thoughts on “Is Quorn/Mycoprotein tested on Animals?”

  1. Thanks for this! I’m currently trying to go vegan (from veggie), and after a few very painful experiences in the supermarkets trying to buy ready made meals etc (yes I am a lazy cook) I would be delighted to see Quorn launch their vegan range! For whatever reason, along with Cauldren, they seem to be pretty much the only food manufactuer that regularly makes it into the “meat free” section of supermarkets.

    If they can get their vegan products into the same section… that would surley be a huge win, and would help people like me that don’t find things easy foodwise.

    Obviously animal testing is bad, and I don’t want to sound like I am trivialising it, but in Quorn’s case, assuming the animals just literally had to eat some of the final product to make sure they didn’t spontaneously combust, it can’t have been the most harsh thing ever! And I think the greater good that Quorn has managed to achieve with their veggie products (helping 100,000s of people go veggie) is significant.

    1. Depending on what the conditions of the laboratory setting the animals were kept in were like (not only whether or not they were provided adequate food and drink, but whether their environment was sufficiently stimulating, whether their needs for social interaction with members of their own kind were met, whether they were afforded sufficient space, etc.), whether they were killed to be dissected, whether they were vivisected, whether the diets any of the animals were provided were unhealthy (which is perfectly possible, especially if they were given a diet consisting of only one consumable, so as to eliminate the effects caused by other consumables in their diet (like these rats I read about that were only fed potatoes (and whose subsequent subjections to examinations I strongly suspect them being cut open, as it happens))) or even outright poisonous to them, or whether the animals were killed after they were finished being experimented on because they were considered not to be viable subjects for any more testing, whether the animals were killed because it was considered they had been subjected to enough experiments but it was decided against maintaining them, and depending on other factors I’m sure; then I assure you the treatment of animals tested on as part of research relating to mycoprotein, other ingredients used by Quorn, or Quorn products, could have been perfectly harsh indeed.

    2. Your assumption that the animals had to eat some of the product is completely wrong, The test is the LD50 test, its objective is to discover the lethal dose. Thousands of animals were fed gradually increasing doses until 50% of the animals die. Obviously, as a food stuff, quorn is not toxic, and the animals have to be force fed the product until half of them die of internal rupturing. One of the most cruel and irreverential animal experiments I have heard off.

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