Fungi Perfecti, along with M2 Ingredients, Gourmet Mushrooms and Monterey Mushrooms have jointly written an open letter in a show of unity to emphasise 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 opinion presented in the recent FDA Citizen Petition filed by Nammex, which according to Fungi Perfecti "obfuscates and misrepresents the use of well-established mycological definitions" that impact responsible consumer messaging about mushroom products.
The parts of a mushroom should be scientifically specific. 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.
In a statement, Fungi Perfecti said: "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."
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.
As part of his response to the Citizen Petition released by Nammex, Paul Stamets, Member, Founder and Chief Science Officer at Fungi Perfecti, said: “As mycologists, scientists, and industry experts, we are concerned by the public confusion being created and spread by this Citizen Petition about widely-accepted and settled terminology, and are moved to collectively write this open letter in response so that industry policies will be grounded in scientific accuracy.”
Fungi Perfecti is a family-owned company specialising in mushroom mycelium-based supplements and drink mixes. Founded by Paul Stamets with the goal of "building the bridge between people and fungi, Fungi Perfecti has become synonymous with cutting-edge mycological research".
