Product Study A2 Food Technology

Analysis of the Situation

There are currently 4million vegetarians in the UK, and this figure is increasing at a rate of 5,000 each week. The fact that the number of vegetarians in the UK has doubled in the past ten years, proves vegetarianism to be constantly gaining popularity. The UK retail market for vegetarian foods is increasing by eight per cent per year, reflecting the constant demands for meat alternatives.

Quorn products are amongst the most popular vegetarian foods in the UK, which is indicated through the vast amount of people choosing Quorn products as regular mealtime alternatives to meat based meals.

I have chosen Quorn chicken style nuggets as my product study, as it is a well-established meat alternative, and one of Qourn's best selling products. Quorn as a company cater for many different needs of customers from social groups including religion and faith, culture, low fat diets, and of course, vegetarians themselves.

History of Micoprotein and Quorn Products

In the 1960's nutritionists and health experts were concerned that the predicted growth

in population would mean that by the 1980's there would be a global protein shortage.

Nutritionists and food scientists started a search to find new foods, which would help

to meet the predicted increase in demand.

The discovery of an organism occurring naturally in the soil ultimately gave Marlow

Foods the opportunity to develop such a new food; mycoprotein.

Research and product development work progressed. It wasn't until the early 1980's that mycoprotein could be grown on a commercial scale and soon after that was the officially approved for food use by the UK's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), now Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The new range of healthy Quorn foods was launched based on mycoprotein.

A slowing in world population growth and improved food production techniques meant that the expected world protein shortage did not materialize. By this time, Marlow Foods' ability to manufacture the Quorn product range, and its associated dietary benefits led to Quorn products being chosen by many in the UK as a regular mealtime alternative to meat based meals.

Objectives:

* To write to Quorn to achieve some information on the history of the company, and my chosen product, to help me with all aspects of my product study.

* To illustrate the many design and manufacture features that influence the production of Quorn chicken style nuggets.

* To focus on design features such as the consumption figures (trends in past and present consumption figures), the functions of ingredients, additives and the nutritional value of the product.

* To compare Quorn chicken style nuggets with meat chicken nuggets, and analyse nutritional information of the meat product, compare costs and other customer attractions.

* To investigate the method of packaging.

* To understand what factors affect the development of the product, regarding issues such as environmental, moral and ethical.

* To use a variety of sources of research such as the internet and text books for my secondary information. My primary information will be collected from surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and letters to the Quorn Company..

Analysis and Synthesis

Quorn first came about in the 1980's, when a tiny organism called mycoprotein could be grown on a commercial scale. I shall now look at how Quorn is developed and manufactured into one of its most popular products, chicken style nuggets. Quorn derives from the fungus, micoprotein. Mycoprotein is very nutritious - it is low in fat, and contains high quality protein and essential dietary fibre. It is cholesterol free, and contains no animal fats making it vegetarian.

Mycoprotein is grown in a large tank full of water, sugar (glucose), minerals and vitamins. The tank is known as a fermenter. Air is blown into the liquid both to provide oxygen for growth and to keep the liquid mixed. As the mycoprotein grows it gives out heat, and this is removed in the cooler. The shape of the tank was designed to meet the specific needs of mycoprotein and it is approximately 35m high.

Mycoprotein Fermenter.

Growing micoprotein.

There are special conditions which have to be strictly followed through the growth of micoprotein. The environment, including temperature, nutrients and acidity must be carefully monitored and controlled during the process.

To start off with, the fermenter is filled with water and the required nutrients are added, following an exact recipe. A starter culture of the organism is added, and the micoprotein begins to grow. When the correct number of cells are in the fermenter, water and nutrients are continuously added. The rates of addition and withdrawal of water and nutrients are balanced to maintain a steady concentration of cells in the fermenter. The term harvesting is given to the removal of contents from the fermenter.

During harvesting, the micoprotein cells are first removed from the water and then the micoprotein is heated to stop it growing and then is harvested using a centrifuge. The centrifuge generates a force many times greater than gravity. Under this force, the micoprotein settles out of the liquid and can be removed.

See appendix 1 for diagram of The production of micoprotein

The micoprotein is then chilled and packed into stainless steel containers, and is then ready to be used as the major ingredient in the manufacture of Quorn chicken style