Multiple Suppliers Join This Call for Accurate Labeling & Best Practices
Gibsons, BC, Canada (June 3, 2025) – Nammex, the premier North American supplier of Certified Organic Functional Mushroom Extracts, recently published an open access, peer reviewed research article, Comparative Study of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) Dietary Supplements Using Complementary Analytical Techniques, in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Subsequently, a supplier of Inonotus mycelium fermented grain posted a response that raised concerns in the fungi community for several misrepresentations. The issues raised by this supplier, however, do not undermine the study’s conclusion that there are stark compositional differences between wildcrafted chaga and Inonotus mycelium fermented grain products.
In the Nammex study, the authors established a multi-analytical framework to identify authentic chaga canker and assess the quality of commercial dietary supplement products: “[a]uthentic chaga canker was characterized by high melanin content, a high β-glucan to α-glucan ratio, and unique triterpenoid and phenolic profiles. In contrast, Inonotus mycelium fermented grain products contained significant starch and α-glucans, lacked key triterpenoids, and exhibited metabolic profiles closely resembling their grain substrates rather than authentic chaga canker reference materials.”
These findings emphasize the need for rigorous analytical verification of fungal products in the marketplace to support truth-in-labeling. Authenticating fungal-based dietary supplements and detecting misrepresented products is facilitated by utilizing the critical chemical markers that distinguish wildcrafted chaga canker from both Inonotus mycelium fermented grain products and pure mycelium. As demonstrated by their vastly different chemical profiles, they are not the same thing. The analytical profile of Inonotus mycelium fermented oats is far more similar to oats than to the chaga canker. A simple, reliable starch analysis easily demonstrates this fact.
While Inonotus mycelium fermented grain products can be produced in a lab or indoors with relative speed using non-wood substrates, real chaga cultivation to produce the highly valued cankers that have been consumed for centuries begins with inoculation of birch trees, followed by years of waiting for cankers to form. Inonotus cannot produce chaga cankers without the host tree. In fairness to consumers and in the interest of scientific accuracy, sellers of Inonotus mycelium fermented grains need to acknowledge their products have a different identity than the chaga canker and label their products accordingly.
At a time when the functional mushroom market continues to rapidly expand, the Nammex team has provided clear, scientifically based definitions for fungal ingredients in dietary supplements. They are proud to be the industry leader in advancing the use of analytical testing to verify product quality and ensure accuracy and transparency in product labeling. We challenge all companies to do the same.
Additional suppliers of functional mushrooms and specifically authentic chaga canker, add their comments:
“The idea that chaga cankers can be grown on mycelium fermented oats is not true. The Nammex study represents a critical step forward in applying scientific methodology to differentiate authentic chaga cankers from imitation products. As stewards of consumer trust and scientific accuracy, we must insist on clear, evidence-based definitions, particularly in a growing market vulnerable to misrepresentation. The natural symbiosis between chaga and birch trees that occurs over many years cannot be achieved in a lab. Again, the Nammex study underscores the clear distinctions between true chaga and mycelium fermented grain products, distinctions that are critical for scientific accuracy and consumer trust. At KÄÄPÄ Biotech, we take pride in supporting research that promotes transparency and upholds the integrity of our industry. We invite our peers to join us in adopting rigorous analytical standards that reflect the true nature of these complex fungal organisms.”
- Eric Puro, CEO KAAPA Biotech /Nordic Mushrooms
"Chagit Products has managed a network of native-aligned chaga harvesters in Alaska, that operate in a traditional, sustainable manner to preserve the boreal birch forest, for over a decade. We have worked to educate the general public on the nature and benefits of real chaga, with a focus on ethical manufacturing and marketing of products made from chaga. There has been a lack of accountability shown by certain lab-cultivation producers in the functional mushroom space, to disseminate misinformation to the consumer that demonizes the real chaga harvested by native Alaskans and belittles their tribal traditions. The chaga conk which grows on birch trees as a result of the battle for life between tree and mushroom is a sacred root medicine for them, a gift from the Great Spirit and it bears no resemblance to the myceliated, fermented grain products that issue from a lab. To suggest that is an insult to the culture of Native Alaskans and Canadian First Nations peoples. True chaga only grows on trees of the north in various parts of the world and the tests that we have been fortunate to participate in, prove that case beyond a shadow of doubt.”
- Tulsy Ball, Co-founder, Chagit Products
About Nammex
Since 1989, Nammex has pioneered the cultivation of organic mushrooms and development of high-quality mushroom extracts to support consumer health and wellness. For over 30 years, Nammex has been a leader in advancing the scientific understanding of mushroom extracts and commercial use of scientifically validated analytical methods for quality control testing of fungal products. Nammex’s mushroom extracts and concentrates are produced under rigorous quality standards, including growing mushrooms naturally using organic practices, processing the mushrooms following cGMP standards, QC testing in qualified laboratories, and yearly audits of farm and factory. Nammex founder and President Jeff Chilton has deep, longstanding relationships with China’s top researchers and growers of medicinal mushrooms and the current team is continuing to strengthen these important ties as the company expands.
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