Supporting Truth in Mushroom Labeling and Products

The makers of Host Defense® Mushrooms™, Fungi Perfecti, LLC, along with M2 Ingredients Inc., Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc., and Monterey Mushrooms Inc. have jointly written an open letter in a show of unity to emphasize the importance of conveying scientifically accurate information to the public, to FDA, and to other thought leaders in the field. This joint letter comes in response to the puzzling opinion presented in the recent FDA Citizen Petition filed by Nammex, which obfuscates and misrepresents the use of well-established mycological definitions that impact responsible consumer messaging about mushroom products.

Specifically of concern, the Citizen Petition advocates to eliminate use of the word “mushroom” for products using mushroom mycelium. This is both confusing and concerning as the collective industry use of “mushroom mycelium” is scientifically accurate, just as the use of “mushroom spores”, “mushroom fruit bodies” are descriptively accurate. The word “mushroom” describes the organism as a whole, whereas terms like “mycelium” and “fruit body” refer to distinct parts of the mushroom organism.

This is perfectly parallel to saying “plant roots”, “plant seeds/spores”, and “plant flowers”. Both sets of terminologies describe the parts of the organism. To propose the elimination of the word “mushroom” results in confusion and misdirection. The Mushroom Life Cycle diagram, as it appears in The Mushroom Cultivator, co-authored by Paul Stamets and Jeff Chilton, depicts clearly-named and scientifically accurate stages of the mushroom life cycle.