Federal regulators are taking aim at a popular category of psychoactive edibles that contain an iconic red-capped mushroom in the wake of a rash of illnesses and even a few suspected deaths.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration warned food manufacturers that Amanita muscaria and the compounds in that mushroom are not authorized for use in food, citing a review of the scientific evidence that found these ingredients do not meet “safety standards.”
There’s considerable folklore surrounding the white-spotted fungus, also known as “fly agaric,” which still permeates popular culture, even appearing in the Mario video game franchise and as emojis.
Unlike psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, Amanita muscaria isn’t listed as a controlled substance.
It’s advertised as an ingredient in some edibles, which are touted as having cognitive-enhancing “nootropic” or “microdosing” blends. Many are sold in trippy-looking packaging at convenience stores, smoke and vape shops, and online.
In its warning letter to food manufacturers, the FDA notes these are sometimes marketed as “psychedelic edibles” or “legal psychedelics,” and that “adverse event reports” prompted the agency to assess the mushroom’s safety profile.
“I feel it’s the right call,” says Eric Leas, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Diego who has documented public health concerns around the mushroom. “It could potentially have very large implications for this market.”
Christian Rasmussen, who runs an online retailer of Amanita muscaria, said his lawyers are still figuring out the implications, but called it a “huge obstacle” for his business, the industry and individuals who’ve been using the mushroom.
“A lot of this seems to be brought on by the actual adulterated products that have hit the market in recent years, containing various synthetic drugs and being marketed as Amanita,” Rasmussen, who runs MN Nice Botanicals, said in an email.
NPR contacted several other major companies that sell these mushroom edibles and did not receive a response.
Hospitalizations led to edible recall
These products drew considerable attention earlier this year as poison centers across the country received reports of people being hospitalized after consuming chocolates and gummies marketed under the brand name Diamond Shruumz, which were made by a California-based company known as Prophet Premium Blends. The company recalled the products.
Subsequent testing revealed some of those edibles contained “muscimol,” one of the active ingredients in Amanita muscaria. However, there was also a mixture of other substances, including a synthetic version of psilocybin, the prescription anticonvulsant drug pregabalin and the supplement kava. Others who’ve tested mushroom edible products have also documented a variety of undisclosed substances, as NPR reported earlier this year.
