Editing Quorn (section)

==History==

Quorn was launched in 1985 by Marlow Foods, a joint venture between [[Rank Hovis McDougall]] (RHM) and [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] (ICI).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quorn.co.uk/about/|title=FAQs About Quorn – Is Quorn Vegan/Gluten Free & More|website=Quorn|access-date=31 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729213931/http://www.quorn.co.uk/about/|archive-date=29 July 2015|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Microbial biomass is produced commercially as [[single-cell protein]] (SCP) for human food or animal feed and as viable yeast cells for the baking industry. The industrial production of bakers' yeast started in the early 1900s, and yeast biomass was used as human food in Germany during [[World War I]]. The development of large-scale processes for the production of microbial biomass as a source of commercial protein began in earnest in the late 1960s. 

Several of the processes investigated did not come to fruition owing to political and economic problems, but the establishment of the ICI Pruteen process for the production of bacterial SCP for animal feed was a milestone in the development of the fermentation industry.<ref name= JH50>{{Cite book |title=Jealott's Hill: Fifty years of Agricultural Research 1928-1978 |editor-first= F.C. |editor-last1=Peacock |last1=Watchorn |first1= N. |last2=Matthews |first2=J.F. |last3=Rout |first3= A.E. |chapter=Chapter 15: Single-cell protein |pages= [https://archive.org/details/jealottshillfift0000peac/page/137 137–144] |publisher=Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. |year=1978 |isbn=0901747017 |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/jealottshillfift0000peac/page/1 |url= https://archive.org/details/jealottshillfift0000peac/page/137}}</ref> This process used continuous culture on a large scale {{cvt|1500|m3}}. The economics of the production of SCP as animal feed were marginal, which eventually led to the discontinuation of the Pruteen process. 

The technical expertise gained from the Pruteen process assisted ICI in collaborating with company Rank Hovis McDougall on a process for the production of fungal biomass for human food. A continuous fermentation process for the production of ''[[Fusarium venenatum]]'' biomass (marketed as Quorn) was developed using a {{cvt|40|m3}} air-lift fermenter.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/C2013-0-00186-7 |title=Principles of Fermentation Technology |date=2017 |isbn=978-0-08-099953-1 |first1=Peter F. |last1=Stanbury |first2=Allan |last2=Whitaker |first3=Stephen J. |last3=Hall }}{{pn|date=March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=David H. |chapter=The development of pruteen by ICI |pages=53–78 |title=Bioprotein Manufacture: A Critical Assessment |date=1989 |publisher=E. Horwood |isbn=978-0-7458-0372-2 }}</ref>

During the 1960s, it was predicted that by the 1980s there would be a shortage of protein-rich foods.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.quorn.us//cmpage.aspx?pageid=484
| title = History
| website = quorn.us
| publisher = Quorn USA website
| access-date = 4 June 2007
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070701190021/http://www.quorn.us/cmpage.aspx?pageid=484
| archive-date = 1 July 2007
| df = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name=independent050607>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-petri-dish-to-plate-the-acircpound172m-fungi-493315.html |title=From petri dish to plate: The £172m fungi |work=[[The Independent]] |date=7 June 2005 |access-date=27 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100906170125/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/from-petri-dish-to-plate-the-acircpound172m-fungi-493315.html |archive-date=6 September 2010 |url-status= live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The filamentous fungus, ''Fusarium venenatum'', was discovered in a soil sample in 1967.<ref name= "nytimes">{{cite news
| title        = Lawsuit Challenges a Meat Substitute
| newspaper    = [[The New York Times]]
| first        = Melanie
| last         = Warner
| date         = 3 May 2005
| url          = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/03food.html?ex=1272772800&en=e24a69012b5704e6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
| access-date   = 20 May 2006
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20131219190442/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/business/03food.html?ex=1272772800&en=e24a69012b5704e6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
| archive-date = 19 December 2013
| url-status   = live
| df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> In 1985<!-- or 1984? -->, RHM was given permission to sell mycoprotein for human consumption after a ten-year evaluation programme.<ref name= gras2001>{{cite web
| title        = GRAS Notices – Notification for Mycoprotein, Submitted by Marlow FoodsLtd, November 30, 2001
| work         = FDA.gov
| url          = http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/gras_notices/grn000091.pdf
| access-date  = 27 June 2011
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121018222514/http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/gras_notices/grn000091.pdf
| archive-date = 18 October 2012
| url-status   = dead
| df           = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref name=wiebe>{{cite journal |last1=Wiebe |first1=M. |title=Myco-protein from Fusarium venenatum : a well-established product for human consumption |journal=Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology |date=March 2002 |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=421–427 |doi=10.1007/s00253-002-0931-x |pmid=11954786 }}</ref>

=== Retail history ===

The brand Quorn was first marketed in 1985 by Marlow Foods (named after Rank Hovis McDougall's headquarters in [[Marlow, Buckinghamshire]]), a [[joint venture]] between RHM and [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] (ICI), which provided a fermenter left vacant from their abandoned single-cell feed programme.<ref>{{Cite news| url= https://londonist.com/london/history/did-you-know-that-quorn-was-invented-beside-the-thames|title=Did You Know That Quorn Was Invented Beside The Thames?|date=2018-05-28|work=[[Londonist]]|access-date= 2020-02-26|language=en-GB}}</ref> The two partners invested in patents for growing and processing the fungus, and other intellectual properties in the brand.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} The name of the product was taken from a trademark owned by RHM. This trademark was previously used for a range of instant food packets named after the [[Quorn Hunt]], which in turn derives from the Leicestershire village of [[Quorn, Leicestershire|Quorn]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wordhistories.net/2018/02/13/quorn-origin/|title=the curious history of 'Quorn' (meat substitute)|first=Pascal|last=Tréguer|website=Wordhistories.net|date=13 February 2018|access-date=10 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2011|title= Quorn meat substitute and our village – a connection or not?|website=Quorn Village Museum|access-date=10 January 2024}}</ref>

Quorn entered distribution in the UK in 1993, and it was introduced to other parts of Europe in the 1990s, and to North America in 2002.<ref>{{cite web
| title = What is Quorn?
| website = quorn.us
| publisher = Quorn USA 
| url = http://www.quorn.us//cmpage.aspx?pageid=372
| access-date = 4 June 2007
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070701185900/http://www.quorn.us/cmpage.aspx?pageid=372
| archive-date = 1 July 2007
| df = dmy-all
}}</ref>