Before you buy a mushroom extract, read the label

The eight questions

1. What mushroom is actually in it?

Look for the Latin name as well as the common one: Hericium erinaceus for lion’s mane, Ganoderma lucidum for reishi. Common names get used loosely, and “reishi” in particular covers more than one species in some markets.

If it is a blend, check whether each mushroom has its own amount or whether they are lumped together as a “proprietary blend”, which tells you almost nothing about how much of each is there.

2. Fruiting body, mycelium or biomass?

The fruiting body is the mushroom itself. Mycelium is the root-like network. Biomass usually means mycelium grown on grain and milled together, so part of what you are buying is grain.

None of those words is automatically a verdict on quality, and there is research on all of them. But they are different materials, and a label that does not say which one you are getting is leaving out the most basic fact. More on fruiting body, mycelium and biomass.

3. Extract or plain powder?

Ground dried mushroom is a powder, not an extract. An extract has been through hot water, alcohol, glycerin or a combination. Both are sold, often side by side and sometimes labelled confusingly.

If the word “extract” is there, look for how it was extracted. Extract vs powder explained.

4. What does the ratio actually mean?

For a liquid, a ratio like 1:4 should mean dried mushroom to finished liquid, so you can work out how much mushroom is in the bottle. For a powder, 10:1 usually means ten parts mushroom went into one part extract.

Check it says dry weight, not fresh. If there is no ratio at all, you have lost the easiest way to compare how much mushroom went into it. Even with one, a ratio does not measure extraction yield or compound content. The ratio arithmetic.

5. What else is in the bottle?

Read the full ingredients list, not just the front. For liquids, look for alcohol and the ABV, glycerin, water and any sweeteners or flavourings. For capsules and powders, look for fillers, carriers such as maltodextrin, and anti-caking agents.

If it contains alcohol, the label should say so clearly. If it is alcohol-free, it should say what replaced the alcohol. What glycerin does and does not do.

6. Who made it, and where?

There may be a grower, an extractor and a brand involved. They may be in the same place or several countries apart.

For products sold in the UK, look for the UK business responsible for the food supplement. Then see what else the brand tells you about provenance.

7. Is there a batch number you can trace?

A batch or lot number and a best-before date should be on the bottle. They mean the seller can, in principle, trace that bottle back to a production run if anything goes wrong.

Small detail. Quite important if something ever needs tracing.

8. What are they claiming, and what is the evidence?

In the UK, food supplements cannot claim to prevent, treat or cure a disease. Be wary of anything that reads like it does, and of “clinically proven” with no study named.

If a study is named, check whether it tested the same mushroom, the same part of it, a similar preparation and a similar amount, in people. Evidence for an ingredient does not prove a particular product does the same thing. How we read the evidence.

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