I invited Skye Chilton of Real Mushrooms onto the podcast to discuss the ongoing FDA Petition process he’s helped spearhead to ensure accurate labeling of mushroom supplements.
There is an ongoing dispute between key stakeholders in the multibillion dollar functional mushroom industry around the labeling of fungi products, with the focal point of this dispute being the ‘mycelium vs. fruiting bodies’ clarification in product labeling.
Essentially, the ‘fruiting body’ of a mushroom – or the part that anyone would readily identify as an actual mushroom – is the only part of the fungal organism that has documented historical medicinal use and thousands of modern clinical studies corroborating its health benefits.
Despite this, the ‘mycelium’- or underground root-like structure of the fungal organism – lacks any of these health benefits and yet is grown, packaged, and labeled as a ‘mushroom’ supplement by a number of companies despite the fact that its an entirely different part of the fungal organism.
Skye breaks down the reasoning behind this petition, and walks us through the origins and implications of this ongoing dispute in the functional mushroom industry.
