microdosing

What we know about microdosing candy illnesses as death investigation underway

cases, diamond shruumz, health, microdosing, muscimol, mushrooms, psychedelics, Science, seizures, Toxicology / Rejus Almole / July 6, 2024

Enlarge / The Birthday Cake flavored bar.

One person may have died from eating Diamond Shruumz microdosing candies, which were recalled last week amid a rash of severe illnesses involving seizures, intubation, and intensive care stays.

According to an update this week from the Food and Drug Administration, the cluster of cases continues to increase across the country. To date, 48 people across 24 states have fallen ill after eating the candies, which include chocolate bars, gummies, and candy cones that were sold online and in retail locations, such as smoke and vape shops. Of the 48 people sickened, 46 were ill enough to seek medical care, and 27 were admitted to a hospital.

For now, the death noted in the FDA’s latest update is only “potentially associated” with the candies and is still under investigation. No other information is yet available.

But in an interview with Ars, medical toxicologist Michael Moss was not surprised that the candies may have turned deadly. Moss, who is the medical director of the Utah Poison Control Center, cared for one of the first people reported to be sickened in the cluster.

An early case

The person was sickened in Nevada and transferred to a hospital in Utah, where Moss was a member of his care team. After the person came out of intensive care, Moss sat down with him and tried to piece together what happened. According to Moss, the person had bought a Birthday Cake-flavored chocolate bar at a local store. The bars are sold as “microdosing” candies, suggesting they contain psychedelic compounds, but the exact components and dosages aren’t listed.

Though the person told Moss he had some experience with psychedelics before, it was only with actual mushrooms. This was the first time he had eaten such a bar. And the bar’s packaging had only vague instructions of how much to eat at one time to achieve certain effects. For instance, eating nine or more squares of the bar was described with an image of an eye with lots of rainbow colors.

“What does that dose mean? And how many milligrams of what is that? Nobody knows,” Moss said. “So, he decided, ‘It’s a chocolate bar.’ So why wouldn’t you just eat the chocolate bar? Pretty reasonable thing to do.”

But, within minutes of eating the bar, the person felt nauseated and very dizzy and tired. He went to lie down and doesn’t remember much after that. Fortunately, a family member came home soon after and found him. The family member saw that he had vomited and was possibly aspirating or choking. By the time paramedics arrived, he was having a seizure. He had another in the emergency room. Doctors gave him anti-seizure medications and a breathing tube and put him on ventilation before transferring him to the hospital in Utah.

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Microdosing candy-linked illnesses double; possible recall in “discussions”

CDC, chocolate, cones, diamond shruumz, fda, gummies, intubation, microdosing, outbreak, psychedelic, recall, Science, seizures / Paul Patrick / June 20, 2024

No recall —

Of the 26 cases identified so far, 25 sought medical care and 16 were hospitalized.

Beth Mole – Jun 20, 2024 6: 16 pm UTC

Cases of illnesses linked to microdosing candies have more than doubled, with reports of seizures and the need for intubation, mechanical ventilation, and intensive care stays. But, there remains no recall of the products—microdosing chocolates, gummies, and candy cones by Diamond Shruumz—linked to the severe and life-threatening illnesses. In the latest update from the Food and Drug Administration late Tuesday, the agency said that it “has been in contact with the firm about a possible voluntary recall, but these discussions are still ongoing.”

In the update, the FDA reported 26 cases across 16 states, up from 12 cases in eight states last week. Of the 26 reported cases, 25 sought medical care and 16 were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a health alert about the candies. The agency noted that as of June 11, the people sickened after eating Diamond Shruumz candies presented to health care providers with a host of severe symptoms. Those include: central nervous system depression with sedation, seizures, muscle rigidity, clonus (abnormal reflex responses), tremor, abnormal heart rate (bradycardia or tachycardia), abnormal blood pressure (hypotension or hypertension), gastrointestinal effects (nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain), skin flushing, diaphoresis (excessive sweating), and metabolic acidosis with increased anion gap (an acid-based disorder linked to poisonings).

At the time of the CDC alert, 10 patients had been hospitalized, and “several required intubation, mechanical ventilation, and admission to an intensive care unit,” the agency reported.

It remains unclear what ingredient in the candies could be causing the poisonings. The FDA reports that it has worked with state partners to collect multiple samples of Diamond Shruumz products so they can be analyzed for potential toxic components. That analysis is still ongoing, the agency said.

Diamond Shruumz has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Ars.

Untold toxic ingredients

Diamond Shruumz does not list the ingredients of its products on its website. They are sold as “microdosing” candies, a term that typically suggests a small amount of a psychedelic compound is present. The company describes its chocolates, gummies, and cones as “trippy,” “psychedelic,” and “hallucinogenic,” and also claims they contain a “primo proprietary blend of nootropic and functional mushrooms.” But, it’s unclear what, if any, psychoactive compound is present in the candies.

The CDC notes that products like these “might contain undisclosed ingredients, including illicit substances, other adulterants, or potentially harmful contaminants that are not approved for use in food.”

Diamond Shruumz posted documents on its website from third-party laboratories claiming to indicate that the candies do not contain the most notable mushroom-derived psychedelic compound, psilocybin. The reports also indicate that some of the products do not contain cannabinoids or compounds from the hallucinogenic Amanita muscaria mushroom. Additionally, the company said in a blog post that its products contain a blend of Lion’s mane, Reishi, and Chaga mushrooms, but these are all non-hallucinogenic mushrooms used in herbal and traditional medicines and supplements.

In recent decades, hundreds of new synthetic psychoactive substances have hit the market in such products, including many new phenethylamines and tryptamines, which are chemically related to LSD and psilocybin. Some experts and members of the psychedelic community have speculated that Diamond Shruumz products could potentially contain one of the more popular tryptamines, 4-AcO-DMT, often pronounced “4-akko-DMT,” and also known as 4- acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, O-acetylpsilocin, or psilacetin. According to a qualitative 2020 study, users describe 4-AcO-DMT as producing effects similar to psilocybin, but without some of the unpleasant side effects noted with natural mushrooms, such as nausea. Animal experiments have confirmed that 4-AcO-DMT appears to produce psilocybin-like effects.

Still, it’s unclear if such ingredients could explain the symptoms seen in the current outbreak. Though clinical data on 4-AcO-DMT is scant, it has not been linked to such severe symptoms. On the other hand, some novel synthetic compounds, such as Dox and NBOMe, often misrepresented as LSD, are considered dangerous. For instance, NBOMe compounds (N-methoxybenzyl, also called N-bombs or 251), first discovered in 2003, have been linked to overdoses and deaths. In the scientific literature, they’ve been linked to “unpleasant hallucinations, panic, agitation, hypertension, seizures, acute psychosis, and/or excited delirium that can result in cardiac arrest,” according to the 2020 study.

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People are seizing, being intubated after eating microdose chocolates

CDC, chocolate, fda, health, illnesses, microdosing, outbreak, outbreak investigation, poison control centers, Science, toxin / Kris Guyer / June 8, 2024

Yikes —

“Extreme caution” urged as at least 8 people in 4 states sickened, 6 hospitalized.

Beth Mole – Jun 7, 2024 10: 13 pm UTC

Enlarge / A Diamond Shruumz chocolate bar, which come in a variety of flavors.

Various federal and state health officials are sounding the alarm on Diamond Shruumz-brand Microdosing Chocolate Bars. The candy, said to be infused with mushrooms, has been linked to severe illnesses, including seizures, loss of consciousness, confusion, sleepiness, agitation, abnormal heart rates, hyper/hypotension, nausea, and vomiting, according to an outbreak alert released by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.

So far, eight people across four states have been sickened—four in Arizona, two in Indiana, one in Nevada, and one in Pennsylvania, the FDA reported. Of the eight, six have been hospitalized.

“We are urging the public to use extreme caution due to the very serious effects of these products,” Maureen Roland, director of the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center in Phoenix, said in a press release earlier this week.

Steve Dudley, director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, added that there’s “clearly something toxic occurring” with the chocolates. “We’ve seen the same phenomenon of people eating the chocolate bar then seizing, losing consciousness, and having to be intubated.” Dudley noted that the state is aware of additional cases beyond the eight reported Friday by the FDA. Those cases were reported from Nebraska and Utah.

It’s not entirely clear what is in the chocolates or what could be causing the illnesses. The FDA said it was working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as America’s Poison Centers to “determine the cause of these illnesses and is considering the appropriate next steps.”

On its website, Diamond Shruumz says that its chocolate bars contain a “primo proprietary blend of nootropic and functional mushrooms.” The website also contains reports of laboratory analyses on their products, some of which indicate the absence of select known fungal toxins and compounds such as the hallucinogen psilocybin and cannabinoids.

Diamond Shruumz did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.

The chocolate bars are still available for sale online but the FDA said that consumers should not eat, sell, or serve them. Any bars already purchased should be discarded. Likewise, retailers should not sell or distribute them. The FDA noted that, in addition to being available online, the bars are also sold in various retail locations nationwide, including smoke/vape shops and retailers that sell hemp-derived products.

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