If you pick shiitake today, it’s made in China, if you pick it tomorrow, it’s made in South Korea

Controversy is brewing over the country of origin labeling standards for shiitake mushrooms harvested from Chinese culture media. Spawn inoculation and cultivation, which is the core of medium cultivation, are almost always done in China, and sawdust, spawn, and nutrients used in the medium are all made in China. This is because there is a problem of changing to 'domestic'. Experts pointed out that ambiguous labeling regulations only cause confusion in country of origin management, and urgently need to improve the system. The beginning of the problem originated from the newly applied ‘Shiitake Mushroom Country of Origin Marking Tips’ from January 2021. As the number of cases in which mushrooms were produced by bringing cultured media into Korea increased, the issue of labeling the country of origin became controversial. From July 2017, the government ordered the country of origin to be marked with the country of origin inoculated and cultured, but even this is realistic. According ...