The dispute around whether the term “mushroom” should represent just the fruiting body, i.e. the cap and stem,  or include the mycelial structure which makes up most of the organism, continues to escalate as mushroom ingredients become more popular. Nammex, a supplier of Certified Organic functional mushroom ingredients, submitted a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calling for greater transparency requirements around the term.
 
Specifically, the company doesn’t believe that a product should be marketed as a “mushroom,” or “containing mushrooms” if they only contain other fungal parts besides the cap and stem, or if they fail to disclose added grain ingredients.
 
“Given 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,” said Jeff Chilton, founder of Nammex. “When consumers buy a product labeled as “mushroom”, they should feel confident that they are getting a genuine mushroom product.”
 
“Citizen Petitions provide a public forum through which interested parties can request FDA to issue or amend a regulation or take other administrative action,” said Holly Bayne, founder of Bayne and Associates and Nammex’s regulatory counsel. “As the petition has made clear, remedial action from FDA is warranted, including revisions to the agency’s 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.”  
 
Petition Details
 
Nammex requests that the agency enacts new requirements for mushrooms similar to botanical ingredinets in which the parts of a given organism would need to be reported. Botanical manufacturers are required to list whether a given product is derived from aerial parts or the root of a plant, and the company requested similar transparency requirements for mushrooms versus mycelium or any other fungal parts.
 
Any ingredient which fails to declare the fungal part used should be considered misbranded, according to Nammex, especially in the case where products claiming to contain mushrooms actually contain mycelium, mycelated grain, mycelium grain biomass, or grain spawn.
 
The FDA has 180 days to respond to Nammex’s petition.