The CDC and FDA issued a warning to the public to avoid Diamond Shruumz products after 39 people became severely ill and 23 people were hospitalized in 20 states after eating the company’s mushroom chocolates, ice cream cone-shaped edibles, and gummies. The people who fell ill experienced severe adverse effects including seizures, abnormal heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, and vomiting. The most recent illness occured on June 23, 2024, according to the FDA.
On June 27, 2024, Diamond Shuumz’s parent company Prophet Premium Blends, LLC of Santa Ana, CA, initiated a recall of all flavors of the brand’s chocolate bars, cones, and gummies at the behest of the FDA. According to the firm, these products contain muscimol, a chemical found in Amanita muscaria mushrooms (although muscimol can also be made in a lab). The FDA is evaluating this infomation to determine if muscimol is what caused the rash of illnesses.
Since mid June, however, the FDA, CDC, America’s Poison Centers, and other state and local partners have been investigating the contents of Diamond Shruumz products. On June 25, the agencies determined that two products — a dark chocolate bar and a birthday cake chocolate bar — contained 4-AcO-DMT and kavalactones, which are the psychoactive ingredients in kava. Muscimol was not found in the samples tested.
This data is illuminating because third-party lab tests from ACS Laboratory and PharmLabs San Diego, which are posted on Diamond Shruumz’s website, did not find any detectable amounts of psilocybin, Amanita muscaria, or psilocin in the samples tested. However, the labs did not test for psilocybin analogs such as 4-AcO-DMT, a compound that is commonly found in grey-market mushroom products.
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Inexplicably, some of Diamond Shruumz’s certificates-of-analysis (COAs) only test for cannabinoids, despite their products being marketed as microdose mushroom edibles.
Roger Brown, President of ACS Laboratory, confirmed to DoubleBlind that the lab tests posted on Diamond Shruumz’s website are authentic. However, Brown noted that these tests were over a year old and not the standard COA that shows compliance to safety standards, but rather, R&D certificates used by brands to test samples that are not ready for the market. In Brown’s opinion, the brand was utilizing these tests to prove their products do not contain psilocybin. But they did not test to see what’s actually in them, and did not perform the tests for psilocybin analogs like 4-AcO-DMT.
“It’s a fairly unregulated industry and not every client performs all the testing for contaminants and other things,” said Brown. “But I’m a little surprised that this is an R&D COA that was published. Usually, companies publish their compliance COAs.”
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Diamond Shruumz has been able to operate in the grey market because it does not contain psilocybin, a Schedule I substance that is the intoxicating compound in magic mushrooms. This allows Diamond Shruumz products to be sold legally online and at nationwide retail stores, including smoke/vape shops, bodegas, gas stations, and unregulated dispensaries. The brand markets its products as containing a “proprietary blend of nootropic and functional mushrooms.” The listed ingredients on its website—Lion’s mane, reishi, and chaga mushrooms—are not psychoactive, and the brand does not state what specific nootropics are included. However, user reports on Reddit suggest that people are seeking out these products because they are psychoactive, with experiences ranging from pleasant to nightmarish.
Experts also speculate that Diamond Shruumz products could contain research compounds or psilocybin analogs. “Our initial belief is that it’s something else that truly isn’t psilocybin but close enough to give that effect, which is why it’s being marketed as a microdosing edible,” Dr. Steven Dudley, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, told the New York Times.
Mushroom products containing psilocybin analogs have flooded the gray market in recent years, capitalizing on public demand for psychedelics and the lack of regulatory oversight to ensure public safety. Psilocybin analogs are not widely researched, and while their effects can be enjoyable their broader health effects and risks are largely unknown.
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The New York Times points to 4-AcO-DMT as the culprit for the poisonings. However, we still don’t know enough information. Just because the FDA and CDC’s tests show the presence of 4-AcO, a sample size of two isn’t enough to determine if it’s the cause of the illnesses. In a recent story for DoubleBlind, journalist Webb Wright reported that 4-AcO — and any other synthetic drug — should be scrutinized for the harmful chemicals they’re produced with. Masha Ty, head of corporate growth at ACS Laboratory, explains this is where the manufacturing process becomes risky. She points out that profit-driven chemists may use other, less understood chemicals in the synthesis of lab-made drugs, like 4-AcO.
“When chemists are creating new products, it’s moving at such a fast pace that they’re using solvents and acids that are not even on the radar of legislators or anybody that’s creating these draft rules,” she told Wright. “We don’t even know what they’re using.”
The FDA is still actively investigating the cause of illnesses triggered by Diamond Shuumz. We will update this story as it develops.
Disclaimer: The FDA has said that any suspected cases or adverse effects after consuming any Diamond Shruumz brand products should be reported to the Poison Help Line (1-800-222-1222).
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