The Board of Trustees of the American Herbal Products Association at its March 9, 2017 meeting authorized issuance of guidance for labeling products that contain fungi ingredients.
The guidance provides information to assist in compliance with current label regulations by including the common or usual name and the parts or stages of each fungi ingredient, and by listing ingredients in order of predominance by weight. In addition, under the guidance if the word "mushroom" appears on the label's principal display panel, other than in the marketer's company name, the parts of the fungal dietary ingredients in the product are voluntarily identified, e.g. "mushroom mycelium," "mushroom spore."
"AHPA appreciates our members' interest in providing consumers with the most useful information about fungi ingredients included in this important product category," said AHPA President Michael McGuffin. "This is another example of the herb and supplement industry taking initiative to best serve consumers' needs and interests."
Under the guidance labels may use specific terms such as "mushroom mycelia and fruitbodies" or general terms such as "mushroom complex" or "mushroom composite," and when the general terms are used, the specific fungi and/or fungi parts present are disclosed in order of predominance by weight in nutrition labeling (e.g., "reishi mushroom composite (mycelium, fruitbody, spores)").
The guidance is effective as of March 9, 2019, though marketers may choose to apply the guidance at any time.