New Report from Musheez Challenges Mushroom Extract Industry to Embrace Real Transparency
- Marc Violo
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 11 hours ago
How do we actually know what's in a mushroom extract? Are beta-glucan percentages and extraction ratios enough to judge quality? Can brands reliably claim health benefits if they aren’t measuring the compounds that matter? How do we verify that what’s on the label matches what’s in the bag? And critically—how could we justify premium pricing without verifiable data on the most researched bioactive compounds of interest?
MUSHEEZ has just released its first in-depth industry report — Elevating Mushroom Extract Quality: A Science-Driven Approach to Transparency and Efficacy. Aimed at food supplement professionals, brand owners, and formulators, this 38-page free report exposes the limitations of outdated testing metrics and makes the case for a shift to verified, compound-level analysis.
The report is the result of a nine-month investigation into the real-world quality of mushroom extracts on the European market. It outlines how traditional markers like “10:1 extracts” or “30% beta-glucans” fail to tell us what really matters: the levels of bioactive compounds that actually drive efficacy.
“A high beta-glucan count tells you nothing about the presence of the most researched compounds of interest such as ganoderic acids or hericenones,” says Robin Gurney, Director at MUSHEEZ®. “We realised that without independent testing, we were just guessing — and so is most of the industry.”
Exploring New Testing Methodologies
The report introduces MUSHEEZ’s new testing methodologies, which include combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for species identity and purity with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for compound quantification. Using these techniques, the company analysed some of its own products, commercial extracts from other suppliers and from well known consumer brands. The results were sobering — some products contained mere trace amounts of key bioactive compounds of interest.
The report features:
A breakdown of shared and species-specific compounds of interest
Side-by-side test data from extracts on the EU market
A critique of misleading industry terms like “full spectrum”
A call for open, verifiable documentation at batch level
This publication offers food for thought and a challenge to the industry to raise the bar and stop hiding behind ratios and vague labels. Robin Gurney writes in the introduction, “If brands want consumers to take functional mushrooms seriously, it starts with showing them the data that matters.”
Read the Report
Download the full PDF here: Elevating Mushroom Extract Quality: A Science-Driven Approach to Transparency and Efficacy, or pick up a free hard copy from the MUSHEEZ Stand #3A244 at VitaFoods 2025 where MUSHEEZ are launching a range of new mushroom extract products
About MUSHEEZ
Musheez® is a registered trademark of Natural Chaga OÜ, based in Estonia. The company produces a wide range of certified organic functional mushroom extract ingredients and finished products with a focus on competitive pricing and low MOQs for private/white label European brands.
