FDA Warns Against ‘Microdosing’ Mushroom Chocolate Bars Linked to Severe Illnesses

At least 12 people in eight states became ill after eating Diamond Shruumz brand microdose chocolate bars and other mushroom edibles, including several who had seizures or lost consciousness and had to be placed on ventilators. People also developed high blood pressure and abnormal heart rates.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned people against eating the brand’s gummies, ice cream cone edibles and chocolate bars, which are sold online and in smoke shops across the country and come in flavors like birthday cake, cookies and cream.

It is unclear why these products may have made consumers sick. Diamond Shruumz marketed its chocolates as “trippy little squares” and calls the chocolate a “microdose,” referring to a term for a small amount of psychedelic. But the company said the bars did not contain psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, the hallucinogenic drug found in so-called magic mushrooms. Instead, Diamond Shruumz claims its products contain “nootropic and functional mushrooms,” like Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Chaga mushrooms.

The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work with poison control centers and state health agencies to investigate the cause of these illnesses.

“Our initial belief is that this is something else that is definitely not psilocybin but close enough to give this effect, which is why it is marketed as a microdosed edible product,” said Dr. Steven Dudley, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center. .

Mushroom chocolates have become more popular in recent years as companies capitalize on a wealth of research surrounding psilocybin and consumer interest in it. “There is a real proliferation of these types of products,” said Dr. Stacy Fischer, a researcher studying psilocybin at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

There is little regulatory control over these chocolates, which sometimes contain psilocybin or other compounds that can induce a psychedelic effect. And most products aren’t independently tested to confirm what’s in them, making it virtually impossible for consumers to know what they’re getting in a mushroom chocolate bar.

“There’s no thorough quality control around some of these products to know exactly what’s in them,” said Dr. Chris Hoyte, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center, which investigates illnesses linked to Diamond Shruumz.

“It really worries me from a public health perspective: trying to market them without any regulation means that all sorts of things could be put into these types of products,” Dr. Fischer said.

Some bars labeled as mushroom edibles may contain psilacetin, sometimes called 4-AcO-DMT, a compound that produces effects similar to psilocybin, said Dr. Mason Marks, a law professor at Harvard University and the Florida State University, specializing in psychedelic regulation. . The health effects of psilacetin have not been widely studied, he said.

Dr. Christopher Holstege, director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said he is concerned about the contamination risk posed by these products because their manufacture is minimally regulated.

And there is no guarantee that consumers will receive the exact dose of medication listed on an edible mushroom’s label, he added.

The FDA said anyone who becomes ill after eating these edibles should seek medical attention and contact the National Poison Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. The agency also said retailers should not sell or distribute the products.