United States – Experts have warned that gummies marketed to improve the brain’s function could, in fact, contain other substances that are not disclosed on the label, including the hallucinogenic substance associated with so-called ‘magic’ mushrooms known as psilocybin, as reported by HealthDay.
Contaminated Gummies Cause Health Issues
Doctors at the University of Virginia reported that five people in Virginia, including the child, got ill from the gummies.
The gummies contained purported Amanita muscaria mushrooms or other unidentified mushrooms, the researchers said.
Fly agaric or Amanita muscaria mushroom is not listed under schedule substances by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.
However, forensic tests conducted by the laboratory revealed the presence of either psilocybin or psilocin in 3 of 5 different brands of gummies purchased from central Virginia gas stations and smoke shops. The compounds found in these famous ‘magic’ mushrooms were termed as Schedule I drugs by the FDA, the researchers pointed out.
“While we anticipated that we might find some undisclosed ingredients, we were surprised to find psilocybin and psilocin, knowing that they are scheduled drugs,” said researcher Lindsay Bazydlo, medical director of UVA Health’s Toxicology Laboratory. “The consumer should be given accurate information about what substances are included in these products.”
Undisclosed Ingredients
Other substances identified in the gummies but were missing from the nutritional labels include caffeine, ephedrine, and kratom. It is an herb with opioids leading to the addiction characteristic.
“Legal’ means ‘safe’ to most people, but this is far from the truth. These products are not managed properly and can contain any number of unlabeled substances which, when consumed, can cause undesired symptoms,” concluded Dr. Avery Michienzi, the researcher who is the assistant medical director at UVA’s Blue Ridge Poison Center.
Of those four adults admitted to the UVA Health Medical Center emergency room in September and November, three had taken the mushroom gummies purposely, the researchers observed.
But the child, seen this June, had accidentally eaten two gummies.
All were treated and discharged except for the child who needed admission to the hospital for the night.
The scientists are stating that when consumers purchase these mushroom gummies, they actually do not know what they are ingesting since these products are not approved.
Misleading Labels and QR Codes
“Some packages will have QR codes showing that the products were tested in a lab and contain only what they are labeled to contain,” Michienzi said in a university news release. “These have been found to be inaccurate.”
To sample the products for this study, the researchers purchased three different brands that supposedly contained the same ingredients as the gummies that made the five patients sick. They also purchased two other brands which advertised ‘mushroom nootropics’ – a term that suggests a substance enhances the brain’s functions as well as its health, as reported by HealthDay.
Doctors have noted that the symptoms resulting from these gummies may include such as hallucinations, increased rate of heartbeat, stomach upsets, and changes in the mental state. They are not drugs which are usually tested for in hospitals; common hospital drug tests will not reveal these ingredients in the gummies.