The average American may look around a city street and be surprised to see magic mushrooms for sale in corner stores and gas stations. This is the reality as mushroom gummies from various fruiting bodies hit the market. Psilocybin, the most commonly known magic mushroom, is just one mind-altering fungus in these products. Amanita muscaria is a common player in the legal mushroom scene. When eaten raw, it is poisonous, but if properly prepared, the Super Mario-looking mushrooms have been known to cause some trippy experiences.
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Last year, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) linked Diamond Shruumz Amanita gummies to dozens of illnesses and one death. The FDA sent a letter to manufacturers stating that Amanita does not meet its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) standard. This seems to have culled the wave of products containing Amanita but processed mushroom goods are still prominent on regular store shelves.
What is really in “legal” mushroom products?
While Diamond Shruumz was officially connected to this outbreak, further research into the sect of products indicates another perpetrator at play. The Blue Ridge Poison Center (BRPC), located in the University of Virginia Medical Center, acquired and analyzed 50 mushroom gummies in late 2024. They bought the various shrooms from local smoke shops, convenience stores, and gas stations to learn what was really inside.
Many of the analyzed gummy products were marketed as containing nootropics (ingredients touted by product manufacturers as “biohacking” the brain to optimize function). Only five of the 50 products were marketed as having psychedelic properties. Of those five, three were found to contain psilocybin or psilocin. Both compounds are illegal at the federal level and in most states. Gas stations and similar shops are not permitted to sell either psilocybin or psilocin next to energy shots.
This research team also discovered undisclosed caffeine, ephedrine, and kratom in many of the products. All three substances are legal, but people need to know that they are consuming them. All three pose addiction risks or could mix poorly with other medications. Some of the packages even had QR codes leading to lab tests that did not match the BRPC analysis of the product inside.
Companies may be misleading consumers
The flagrantly misleading packaging could only be one piece of a wider trend. A new research paper shows how psilocybin stores may have misled consumers.
The investigation provides a window into the disparities between how psilocybin was being marketed and its actual ingredients. The picture is pretty grim. Researchers identified 57 psilocybin dispensaries per 100,000 individuals over 15 years old. This was based on 15 of the 42 major urban cities in the country.
They used descriptive and geospatial analysis to learn about the dispensary, its products, and where stores were located in reference to one another. The team analyzed dispensary websites to learn what health claims and warnings were made and how often.
Most stores sold mushroom products that mimicked popular food brands–a big child safety no-no. 86 percent of stores made positive health claims about psilocybin. The same percentage displayed health warnings.
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However, researchers noted that vital risks were not addressed in warnings. The paper cites more need for warnings about not driving (nine percent of psilocybin dispensaries covered this), not consuming them pregnant (14 percent), and dangers for people with mental health disorders (32 percent).
This study paints a picture of how readily available hallucinogenic mushrooms were, and there are few signs that popularity has dwindled. Products are highly available and potentially full of unlisted ingredients.
When it comes to any hallucinogenic mushroom these days, the best rule is to avoid heavily processed products when possible. And remember–the things are highly illegal in most places, act accordingly.
