In recent months, the Turkey Tail mushroom (Trametes versicolor) - a native UK fungus long used in traditional herbalism across the globe - has quietly vanished from the shelves of many UK wellness businesses, including our own. Not due to a safety scare, nor a shift in public interest, but because of a regulatory framework that is critically misaligned with both tradition and emerging science.
We respect and comply with all current UK regulations, including the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) classification of Turkey Tail as a “novel food”. Accordingly, we have ceased the sale of Turkey Tail tincture indefinitely.
We believe transparency matters and want to share what we know, what we've learned, and why we believe this moment deserves wider public attention.
Turkey Tail: A Mushroom with a Rich History
Turkey Tail is not new. It’s arguably one of the most ancient companions to human health, used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as “yun zhi” and by Indigenous communities across the Americas. It thrives in UK woodlands - growing symbiotically on fallen trees and is known for its resilience and regenerative role in nature.
In the 1960s and 70s, Japanese scientists isolated a protein-bound beta-glucan complex called PSK (Polysaccharide-K). Chinese scientists later identified a closely related compound called PSP (Polysaccharide Peptide). Both are derived from Trametes versicolor and have been extensively studied in clinical and pharmacological research for their immune-modulating properties (Wang et al., 2022; Torkelson et al., 2012).
Over the past 50 years, dozens of human clinical trials have explored these compounds. In Japan, PSK has been approved as an adjuvant cancer therapy, used alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy in gastric and colorectal cancers (Tanaka et al., 2012). Studies reported improved survival outcomes and reduced treatment-related side effects. PSP research in China found similar immune-supportive activity (Tsang et al., 2003).
These extracts have been tested not only for efficacy but also for safety. Across multiple trials, PSK and PSP were well-tolerated even at high doses (Pilkington et al., 2022). And yet, despite decades of research, cultural history, and a strong safety record, this ancient woodland mushroom is now barred from sale for human use in the UK.
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The Role Of Science
There are hundreds of peer-reviewed studies examining PSK and PSP (Wang et al., 2022, Wang et al., 2015). There are decades of ethnobotanical knowledge. There are centuries of traditional use, from Japan to Ireland.
So why isn’t this evidence enough to open the door for regulated, correctly labelled and informed sale?
Scientific progress and regulatory progress do not always move in tandem. Science seeks discovery; regulation seeks certainty. But in this gap, we risk losing access to natural substances that are neither new, nor dangerous, nor misunderstood - just bureaucratically inconvenient.
Studied Benefits of Turkey Tail
Modern research continues to examine the physiological effects of Trametes versicolor and its extracts:
May Enhance Gut Health
Turkey Tail contains prebiotic polysaccharides that can help balance beneficial gut bacteria. A human clinical trial found PSP altered the gut microbiome toward more Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species (Pallav et al., 2014).
Learn More: Gut Health
Antibacterial & Antiviral Properties
In laboratory studies, Turkey Tail extracts show broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans, along with antiviral effects (Yu et al., 2013).
Learn More: Antibacterial & Antiviral
May Improve Immune Function
A phase-I clinical trial in women with breast cancer found T.versicolor extract increased CD8+ t-cells and CD19+ B-cells at higher doses (Torkelson et al., 2012).
Learn More: May Improve Immune Function
Rich In Antioxidants
Studies demonstrate that T. versicolor filtrates and extracts display strong antioxidant activity in vitro (Wang et al., 2015).
Learn More: Antioxidants Content
All of this research supports a long-standing understanding: fungi are potent communicators with our immune and metabolic systems ( NCI PDQ, 2024).
The Food Standards Agency: The Novel Food Ban
In both the European Union and post-Brexit UK law, Novel Foods regulations require special pre-market authorisation for any food or ingredient that wasn't commonly consumed by humans in Europe before May 1997. The intent of this law is to ensure new, exotic, or synthetic edibles are proven safe before sale. But it has increasingly been applied to herbs and fungi long used in other cultures.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and its EU counterparts determined that Turkey Tail products do not have a history of significant consumption in Europe prior to 1997. As a result, Trametes versicolor was fully classified as a Novel Food, meaning any use of it in foods or supplements must go through an official authorisation process.
In practical terms, this classification is a de facto ban for the time being. Gaining Novel Food authorisation is an expensive, multi-year process typically pursued only by big companies - not the small mushroom farmers like us.
Large retailers began removing Turkey Tail products from sale in early 2024. Although our Turkey Tail tincture was labelled correctly as “not for human consumption” we were required to remove it as of October 2025.
For us here at Mogo Farm, this is deeply saddening and a difficult moment. We understand the intent behind the regulation, it protects consumers and upholds safety. But the result, in this case, is a native mushroom, used for generations, well-studied in clinical contexts, now deemed unsuitable for consumption until a bureaucratic threshold is crossed.
Alternative Avenues for Turkey Tail?
After announcing the change, so many of you messaged showing care, kindness and support which we are deeply grateful for. Some of you even suggested potential workarounds.
One of the suggestions was relisting Turkey Tail as a pet supplement, as seen elsewhere. We discussed many alternatives with Trading Standards, who confirmed this approach is not viable nor accepted and will not comply with UK law. We wish to remain fully compliant and will not make short sighted decisions that risk breaching regulation.
At Mogo Farm, our purpose has always been clear: to produce premium, ethically made functional mushroom extracts in full compliance with UK standards. Acting rashly would jeopardise that integrity, and we refuse to compromise our values for short-term gain.
A potential solution?
We are not allowed to sell Turkey Tail, but are we allowed to gift it to you?
Major Payment Providers Pause Payouts
In recent months, several independent farms like ours were struck with a red notice: “Payouts are paused until you make the following actions”. Those actions related to removing Turkey Tail and Turkey Tail containing products off our online storefronts. For a small farm like ours, this created real financial strain. With no warning and no clear timeline for resolution, cash flow halts overnight.
We are not here for profits. We operate out of passion and purpose. Our tinctures are intentionally affordable and designed to bring the benefits of functional fungi to everyone. When payments are frozen it doesn’t just affect our team - it disrupts the entire ecosystem of small ethical producers who rely on transparent commerce.
The Paradox: What’s On Our Shelves
Meanwhile, the paradox persists. While Turkey Tail, “the outlaw mushroom”, is removed from sale, products with well-documented health risks like sugar, heavy beverages, ultra processed snacks, chemically preserved ready meals - remain staples of supermarket aisles. These are not novel, they are normalised.
We’re not suggesting that regulation of one product justifies oversight of another. But when the bar for natural, non-toxic fungi is set higher than that for foods with clear, population-wide health burdens, something seems misaligned.
We share closer ancestry with fungi than we do with plants. Turkey Tail is genetically closer to us than it is to a daisy. It produces bioactive compounds that communicate with our immune systems - sometimes in astonishing ways.
If something so interwoven with nature, so biologically compatible with our own systems, can be denied recognition as food, what else might we be overlooking - or silencing?
Questions Without Answers
We find ourselves asking the same questions again and again:
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Is the FSA restricting a mushroom - or the compounds it contains?
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How can we ban a natural organism on the grounds that Europeans didn’t eat it before 1997, when human biology hasn’t changed in that time?
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Who benefits from such barriers?
We don’t yet have answers to any of these questions. But we hold hope that one day Turkey Tail will return to the shelves - not through industrial patenting or pharmaceutical monopolies, but as a natural, transparent, and ethically made product from the forest it came from.
For now, we’ve made the painful decision to remove Turkey Tail indefinitely.
A Note to Our Wonderful Community
To all our customers: thank you so much for your trust, your questions, and your patience. In the past couple of weeks we have received hundreds of messages full of your support and kindness. This incredible response was beyond anything we could have ever imagined.
Your stories, how these adaptogenic mushrooms have helped with focus, energy, sleep and overall well being mean more to us than you know!
We will continue to offer the best mushroom tinctured extracts in the UK, and will continue to advocate for clarity, evidence, and fairness in how our natural world is regulated.
The story of Turkey Tail is not over. It is part of a broader narrative about how we treat traditional knowledge, how we measure health, and how we define food. If this mushroom is novel, then perhaps our system needs to take a closer look at what it considers normal.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice or make any health claims. We do not sell Turkey Tail for human consumption and adhere fully to all UK food and supplements legislation, including the Cancer Act 1939.
References
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) (2024) ASA ruling on Vitality Greens (Turkey Tail as unauthorised novel food), 24 July. Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk (Accessed 31 October 2025).
European Commission (n.d.) EU Novel Food Status Catalogue. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/food/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2025) Novel Foods Authorisation Guidance. Last updated 19 September 2025. Available at: https://www.food.gov.uk (Accessed 31 October 2025).
National Cancer Institute (PDQ® Editorial Board) (2024) Medicinal Mushrooms — Health Professional Version. Bethesda, MD: NCI. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Pallav, K. et al. (2014) ‘Effects of Trametes versicolor PSP and amoxicillin on the gut microbiome of healthy volunteers: A randomized clinical trial’, Gut Microbes, 5(4), pp. 458–467. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/gmic.29558.
Pilkington, K. et al. (2022) ‘Coriolus (Trametes) versicolor to reduce adverse effects of cancer treatment: Safety review’, Integrative Cancer Therapies, 21, 15347354221134535. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9707730/.
Tanaka, H. et al. (2012) ‘Impact of adjuvant immunochemotherapy using PSK in gastric cancer’, Anticancer Research, 32(8), pp. 3427–3433. Available at: https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/32/8/3427.
Torkelson, C.J. et al. (2012) ‘Phase 1 clinical trial of Trametes versicolor in women with breast cancer’, ISRN Oncology, 2012, Article ID 251632. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22701186/.
Tsang, K.W. et al. (2003) ‘Coriolus versicolor polysaccharide peptide slows deterioration in advanced non-small cell lung cancer’, Respiratory Medicine, 97(6), pp. 618–624. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954611103914909.
Wang, T.Y. et al. (2022) ‘Protein-bound polysaccharide-K prolongs overall survival as adjuvant therapy in gastric cancer: Meta-analysis’, Cancers, 14(14): 3401. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9302315/.
Wang, Z. et al. (2015) ‘Immunomodulatory mechanism of PSP via TLR4 signalling’, Scientific Reports, 5: 9560. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4450994/.
Yu, Z.T. et al. (2013) ‘Trametes versicolor extract modifies human fecal microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in vitro’, Journal of Food and Drug Analysis, 21(4), pp. 402–409. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23435630/.
