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The Narrative the Industry Doesn't Want You to Hear
The most pressing matter in the multibillion dollar global mushroom industry has been definitively settled: Mycelium on Grain is superior to Fruiting Body Mushrooms.
If weâre talking about production costs, that is.
AI generated image of âmyceliated oatsâ
Because itâs much cheaper to produce a ton of mycelium on grain and package it as âfunctional mushroomsâ than it is to actually deliver a fruiting body mushroom product. And when a company can advertise their mycelium on grain as âmushroomsâ, how would the average consumer know what theyâre actually getting?
For anybody unaware of this conundrum, there are a number of companies and celebrated fungi spokespeople who sell mushroom supplements derived from myceliated oats rather than the actual fruiting body of the mushroom. Mycelium is a completely different part of a fungal organismâs life cycle than the mushroom, and products sold under âmushroomâ labeling are essentially a hodge podge of fungal biomass and substrate which lack the active compounds and research-backed benefits of fruiting body mushrooms.
Itâs also interesting that none of the mycopreneurs or companies hawking mycelium products advocate for the use of mycelium in the microdosing research that theyâre doing. And if anyone can find any culture throughout the 4,000 year plus history of medicinal mushroom use that corroborates the value of mycelium on grain, please forward the research to me.
âmycelium microdoseâ by AI
This is a huge issue in the mushroom industry, and one which has divided mycopreneurs for years. In an effort to settle this matter, industry leader Nammex has filed a Citizen Petition to the FDA to ensure more specificity regarding the labeling of mushroom products.
âGiven the explosive growth the mushroom category is undergoing and entry of new companies marketing products with fungal ingredients that may not be aware of the regulatory requirements, it made sense to undertake this action now. We hope to raise awareness of the mislabeling problem that exists today in the US, and obtain FDA regulatory guidance on the labeling of mushrooms and other fungal ingredients to ensure truth-in-labeling,â states Jeff Chilton, founder of Nammex. âWhen consumers buy a product labeled as âmushroomâ, they should feel confident that they are getting a genuine mushroom product.â
âCitizen Petitions provide a public forum through which interested parties can request FDA to issue or amend a regulation or take other administrative action,â says Holly Bayne, Nammexâs regulatory counsel. âAs the petition has made clear, remedial action from FDA is warranted, including revisions to the agencyâs compliance policies to ensure foods and dietary supplements containing fungal ingredients are accurately labeled and not misbranded. We look forward to engaging with FDA on this important issue.â
âmushroom industry squabbleâ
A consortium of stakeholders including representatives from Fungi Perfecti, LLC, M2 ingredients Inc., Gourmet Mushrooms Inc., and Monterrey Mushrooms Inc. issued an open letter in response to Nammexâs petition to the FDA. The letter in itâs entirety is provided below:
âAlthough Fungi Perfecti, LLC, M2 Ingredients Inc., Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc., and Monterey Mushrooms Inc. are competitors, we are unified to emphasize the importance of conveying scientifically accurate information to the public, to FDA, and to other thought leaders in the field. From this standpoint we are responding to the puzzling opinion presented in the recent FDA Citizen Petition submitted by Nammex, and find that their position obfuscates the use of well-established mycological definitions.
In this Citizen Petition, Nammex advocates to eliminate the use of the word âmushroomâ in products using mushroom mycelium. Our collective use of âmushroom myceliumâ is scientifically accurate, just as the use of âmushroom sporesâ, âmushroom fruit bodiesâ are descriptively accurate. The word âmushroomâ describes the organism itself, whereas terms like âmyceliumâ and âfruit bodyâ refer to distinct parts of the mushroom organism. This is perfectly parallel to saying âplant rootsâ, âplant seeds/sporesâ, and âplant flowersâ. Both sets of terminologies describe the parts of the organism. To propose the elimination of the word âmushroomâ (again, the name of the organism), results in confusion; for example, âmyceliumâ on its own would not distinguish mold mycelium from mushroom mycelium. Below The Mushroom Life Cycle diagram, as it appears in The Mushroom Cultivator by Paul Stamets & Jeff Chilton, depicts clearly-named stages of the mushroom life cycle.â
The most recent episode of Mycopreneur Podcast hosts Skye Chilton, founder of Real Mushrooms and son of Jeff Chilton. We unpack the Citizen Petition to the FDA and hear about the ongoing process and what exactly is at stake with this matter. This ongoing saga between producers of fruiting body functional mushroom ingredients and companies selling mycelium on grain is one which continues to plague the mushroom industry, and which will likely drag on for considerable time.
Keep an eye on this petition and the ensuing correspondence as the fervor around functional mushrooms continues to swell in the United States and beyond.
In other news, my talk from Breaking Convention is now live on their YouTube channel. The keynote was titled âPsychedelics In the Age of Social Mediaâ A Satirical Goldmineâ and was one of the highlights of my career with Mycopreneur. Itâs an honor to join the illustrious ranks of Breaking Convention keynote speakers and it was also my first visit to England.
My keynote session for the Wonderland Conference in Miami this November is up for community voting right now as well. Please consider taking a moment to cast a vote for my session titled âPsychedelic Comedy: Laughter As Medicineâ by following the hyperlink in the session preceding this title and clicking on the blue box marked âI want to see thisâ to the right of the session description.
Thanks for checking out this weekâs edition of the Mycopreneur Newsletter, and thank you to our sponsors Ousia Labs, makers of the Ousia Fountain for at home extraction of pure flavors, essences, and aromas. If youâre looking to get into extraction, the Ousia Fountain is a turnkey way to get started.
Iâm working diligently to grow the readership of this newsletter and to build a valuable product for people interested in mushrooms and psychedelics, and I welcome feedback and appreciate referrals and recommendations to bring more people into the fold.
See you all next Monday with another newsletter!