For wild mushrooms, as with all other food that is sold to consumers in North Carolina, there are rules and regulations in place designed to protect consumers. Only foragers with demonstrated expertise of North Carolina’s specific rules and regulations, proper identification and handling of the edible wild mushrooms that are approved for sale in North Carolina, and administrative requirements to document those mushrooms may legally sell wild mushrooms to food establishments in North Carolina.
This is a good thing, both for consumers and foragers because it ensures a safe and viable market for wild mushrooms by creating a system that consumers can trust. Most of the wild mushroom consumers in North Carolina, including chefs who prepare wild mushrooms for restaurant customers, don’t personally possess expertise in mushroom collection and handling, so their participation in the system relies on the certainty that those mushrooms are being expertly identified and handled by others.
The only direct guidance on wild mushrooms in the North Carolina Food Code is found in Section 3-201.16:
3-201.16 Wild Mushrooms.
(A) Except as specified in ¶ (B) of this section, mushroom species
picked in the wild shall not be offered for sale or service by a FOOD
ESTABLISHMENT unless the FOOD ESTABLISHMENT has been APPROVED
to do so. P
(B) This section does not apply to:
(1) Cultivated wild mushroom species that are grown,
harvested, and processed in an operation that is regulated by
the FOOD regulatory agency that has jurisdiction over the
operation; or
(2) Wild mushroom species if they are in packaged form and are
the product of a FOOD PROCESSING PLANT that is regulated by the
FOOD regulatory agency that has jurisdiction over the plant.
Because it’s not really clear how to apply this in the real world, the Food Protection and Facilities Branch put out an official position statement in 2017 that lays out specifics. Here is the position statement. It lays out the pre-requisite requirements to be considered expert and be able to bring wild mushrooms into the food system as well as the details of how those mushrooms must be documented and how records are to be retained.
Direct-to-consumer sales, like at farmers markets, are even more problematic, as they fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture rather than the Department of Health. The Department of Agriculture has adopted the same list of 16 wild mushrooms as acceptable to sell, but has no other encoded guidance relating to wild mushrooms. One way to view this is that there’s great leeway in selling mushrooms without breaking any laws, but I think the more reasonable way to view it is that there is very little encoded protection for consumers, as well as for foragers who want to be in compliance, both for safety and for liability reasons.
As mushrooms are becoming more popular in the diets of North Carolinians, it is likely that regulations will change. In fact, it is certain. For the safety of everyone involved in North Carolina’s wild mushroom industry, as well as the legitimacy and longevity of the industry itself, regulations will be changed and tweaked to keep up with technology, new data, and new understandings of what works best. The Fungal Network is committed to helping in this process, talking with the folks who make those decisions and offering our experience and expertise
The Fungal Network offers NC-specific certification courses for those who would like to sell wild mushrooms in North Carolina, based on the current regulations and with a commitment to keep you up to date and within compliance as those regulations inevitably change.
NC Wild Mushrooms 