Psychedelic mushroom foods promise health benefits. Be careful, experts say.

Labels can’t always be trusted, said Eric C. Leas, an assistant professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at the University of California, San Diego.

“Consumers have a right to know what they are getting when they consent to a psychedelic experience,” Leas said. “It’s not fair to them not to know what’s in their meats or mushroom chocolates.”

The warnings have intensified in recent weeks as state and federal health authorities say they are investigating the Diamond Shruumz mushroom snack brand after nearly 50 people in two dozen states were sickened by its products. Investigators are also looking into a death related to the explosion.

The maker of Diamond Shruumz, Prophet Premium Blends, has initiated a nationwide recall of the products, acknowledging that some contain high levels of a potentially toxic chemical found in the amanita muscaria mushroom.

The company said in a statement posted on its website that “it is essential that all our consumers refrain from ingesting this product while we, along with [Food and Drug Administration]We are continuing our investigation into the cause of the severe adverse effects.”

The unregulated industry is expanding on the basis of highly publicized and promising research into the use of psilocybin and psychedelics as drugs. The FDA has in one case considered psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression a “breakthrough therapy,” a designation intended to speed research. Companies and governments are pouring millions of dollars into researching psilocybin to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions.

Magic mushrooms are enjoying a cultural moment as enthusiasts, including some celebrities, tout their benefits and advocate microdosing — taking a tiny fraction of the typical dose of a psychedelic used for clinical effect.

Several states are legalizing, or considering legalizing, the use of psilocybin. Utah lawmakers recently authorized a pilot program that allows supervised administration of psilocybin to treat behavioral health disorders in certain health care systems. In Oregon, under a pioneering voter-approved law, psilocybin can be administered for therapy at nearly 30 state-regulated service centers. The state health authority has registered more than 300 “facilitators” trained to supervise patients.

Treatment can cost thousands of dollars – making it unaffordable for many users and potentially turning people towards the gray market.

A similar law to Oregon’s was passed in Colorado, where personal growth, use and sharing has been decriminalized, but where it remains illegal to sell psilocybin. Cities including DC and San Francisco have categorized mushrooms as a low priority for law enforcement, allowing the products to thrive.

The patchwork of laws and regulations reflects the early days of state-legalized marijuana and the gray market for intoxicating products made from legal hemp, experts say.

“There’s a lot of confusion in the market right now because there’s a lot of demand for these natural remedies, in part because a lot of people have found a lot of healing in them,” said Colorado attorney Joshua Kappel, who helped draft it. his state’s law legalizing the use of certain psychedelics as medicine.

Chelsea, a 32-year-old tech worker in San Diego, is careful about where she buys her magic mushrooms. She took part in a life-changing “mushroom withdrawal,” now takes a few grams every few months, and appreciates the clarity and focus that psychedelic trips bring. Chelsea prefers to order online from a mushroom chocolate maker in Michigan – vouched for by, of all people, her parents.

“I only buy it if it’s recommended to me by someone who’s had it,” said Chelsea, who spoke on the condition of being identified only by her first name because of concerns that her employer might frown on her occasional use.

Psilocybin has surpassed ecstasy as the most popular psychedelic, although users report consuming it infrequently and more often in microdoses, according to a report released last week by Rand, a nonpartisan research organization. Researchers estimated that US residents would spend $1 billion on psilocybin in 2023. Among people surveyed who used it in the past year, more than 22 percent consumed the drug in edible form, the survey found.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in an annual report released on June 26, also raised concerns about the “psychedelic renaissance” that has led to companies taking part in an “enabling environment that encourages widespread access to unsupervised , “quasi-therapeutic” and non-medical use of psychedelics.”

In Australia, health officials in late June warned about a brand of mushroom gum – marketed as non-psychedelic – after consumers were hospitalized with vomiting, tremors and “disturbing hallucinations”.

In the United States, the FDA and state health officials have warned against eating Diamond Shruumz brand “microdosing” chocolate and chewing gum after at least 48 people in 24 states became ill – 27 of whom were hospitalized, according to an advisory July. Officials report that people have passed out and experienced seizures, blackouts, agitation, nausea and vomiting. Some had to be intubated.

“Some people got so nervous to the point that they had to be given medication to calm them down before they hurt themselves,” said Christopher Hoyte, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety Center in Colorado.

The manufacturer of Diamond Shruumz had advertised its products as being free of psilocybin. But the FDA said two chocolates have tested positive for 4-AcO-DMT, a synthesized chemical related to psilocybin that produces similar effects. One chocolate also contained ingredients found in the kava plant, which is sold as an herbal supplement and marketed to relieve anxiety and insomnia, but has prompted warnings of possible liver damage.

Nationally, although still low, reports of mushroom poisoning are increasing. In 2023, there were 1,005 cases of people sickened by psilocybin — and not in combination with any other drug — more than triple the number in 2019, according to the Poison Centers of America, which tracks data from regional poison control centers. .

Experts have warned that people with a history of mental illness may be vulnerable to breakdowns, even if the immediate effects of mushroom products have worn off. An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot was arrested last year after allegedly trying to cut the engines on a flight to San Francisco – an action his lawyers said it resulted from the pilot taking a small amount of psilocybin two days earlier.

“In combination with other drugs, it can lead to some disturbing psychological and psychiatric outcomes” outside of therapeutic settings, said Joshua S. Siegel, a psychedelic researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Security guard and Uber driver

Beyond the pilot, most of the high-profile arrests involve the sale of illegal mushrooms that can be used to make snacks, capsules or teas.

Consider the Alabama prison warden and the 21-year-old Connecticut man charged in separate cases with growing illegal mushrooms in their homes. Or the Florida Uber driver accused of selling mushrooms to undercover detectives in town for a narcotics police briefing. And the Jacksonville, Ore., man the feds say used it Telegram encrypted chat app to wholesale “penis envy” mushrooms across the country.

Seizures of psilocybin rose 369 percent between 2017 and 2022, according to a February study by researchers at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, suggesting the illicit market — and potential health risks — are growing. Lead author Joseph J. Palamar said Oregon appears to be a hub for products destined for other states.

Tryptomics, a lab in Colorado, began testing mushroom chocolates bought in San Francisco stores after a customer complained of getting sick. They found some contained 4-AcO-DMT, which may be stronger than psilocybin or contain heavy metals or solvents left behind during manufacturing, Tryptomics founders Caleb King and Christopher Pauli said. Companies can buy the chemical — which can be seen as illegal under federal law — in bulk online.

“Someone can put a label on a package saying it contains four grams of mushrooms and indeed, it contains a synthetic,” King said. “So it’s about the consumer having to do their research before consuming something. And usually that includes testing.”

A type of legal mushroom

Tryptomics also found discrepancies in popular chocolates that claim to contain amanita, the distinctive red-capped mushroom with white dots of “Alice in Wonderland” fame. The mushroom is legal to grow and harvest in every state except Louisiana, although it does not grow naturally in most of the country.

Google searches for amanita mushrooms increased 114 percent from 2022 to 2023, Leas and UCSD coauthors reported in June in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The newspaper warned that Mushroom compounds can be very toxic and fatal in high enough doses.

Investors are spending millions of dollars developing amanitas as a mainstream product. Psyched Wellness offers a liquid supplement, Calm, that provides a “light buzz” and is for sale on Amazon and at the luxury chain Erewhon Market in Los Angeles. Psyched Wellness CEO Jeff Stevens said the Canadian company’s panel of scientific experts has certified its amanita extract blend — made from foraged mushrooms — is legal under FDA guidelines.

“We’re a public company,” Stevens said. “We really want to take that mainstream approach.”

The FDA has issued warnings about amanita, noting that it is not approved as food additional, agency spokeswoman Courtney Rhodes said.

“There are documented concerns about toxicity and serious side effects including delirium with somnolence and coma, among other psychotropic effects,” Rhodes said in a statement.

Websites such as Supreme Mycology in Los Angeles advertise raw amanita mushrooms on Instagram and make health claims including that it is “proven to treat anxiety and muscle pain and promote restorative sleep.” The website sells teas and chocolates and includes a dosage guide.

A man who returned a call from a reporter and identified himself as CEO Konstantin Izbekov said he “never recommended [amanita mushrooms] for domestic consumption” without making appropriate inquiries from consumers. “This mushroom has a lot of potential, but people need to know how to use it properly,” he said.