Why Cordyceps militaris cannot be sold in the EU, while Cordyceps sinensis can

Our piece on the culture library mentioned that we keep a strain of Cordyceps militaris in the fridge, and the piece on expensive mushrooms that its wild cousin from Tibet is worth more than gold. Since then the question keeps coming: when will you sell cordyceps? The answer is: we will not, and the reason is not a growing problem but a law. Cordyceps militaris may not be sold as food in the European Union. Its cousin Cordyceps sinensis may. That sounds illogical, so here is the whole story.

Two caterpillar fungi

Both species are parasites of insects. Cordyceps militaris, the scarlet caterpillar club, grows wild in north-west Europe too, as an orange club rising from a buried moth pupa, and can be cultivated on rice or grain in controlled rooms with light and cool temperatures. Ophiocordyceps sinensis, the Chinese caterpillar fungus, grows only on the high plateaus of Tibet, Nepal and western China, from the caterpillars of one particular moth family, at three to five thousand metres. Nobody has replicated that combination in a nursery. Whatever is sold in jars as "Cordyceps sinensis" is therefore never the wild mushroom.

What is a "novel food"?

Since 1997 the European Union has had a rule for everything you eat: if a food was not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997, it counts as a novel food. Such a product may only be sold after a company has demonstrated its safety with a dossier at the European Food Safety Authority and the European Commission has authorised it. The rules are in Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. So the question is not whether something is dangerous, but whether its safety has been demonstrated. That is an important difference.

Why does Cordyceps militaris fall under it?

Because nobody has been able to show that Europeans ate this species before 1997. Cultivation on rice only took off in Asia after 2000, and the European market for militaris supplements dates from the last ten years. The EU novel food catalogue therefore lists Cordyceps militaris, both fruiting body and mycelium, as a novel food. No authorisation has been granted to date. A company wanting to sell it must first deliver the safety dossier, and nobody has yet. As long as that remains the case, every jar, powder or extract containing Cordyceps militaris is illegal as food in the EU.

What did the authorities do in 2025?

They checked. From February to April 2025 the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority, the NVWA, inspected seventeen Dutch companies offering cordyceps. Five of them actually sold products containing Cordyceps militaris; they were issued a measure and had to withdraw the products from sale. The other twelve sold Cordyceps sinensis or had already stopped. Foreign webshops delivering to Dutch customers were reported through the European rapid alert system, and customs received information to stop shipments. The NVWA sums it up itself: a company wanting to sell a supplement containing Cordyceps militaris must first prove it is safe; that has not happened, so it may not be sold. The same EU rules apply in every member state. The full results are on the NVWA website (in Dutch).

So why is Cordyceps sinensis allowed?

Because it was already around before 1997. Supplements containing Cordyceps sinensis were sold in Europe before the rule took effect, which is why the catalogue lists the species as not novel in food supplements. Note the restriction: in supplements. In other foods, a drink or a bar, it may still count as novel. And note what is actually in the jar. Because the wild mushroom cannot be cultivated and is all but unaffordable, virtually every sinensis product consists of mycelium grown in fermentation tanks, from which the usual constituents are then extracted and standardised. The best-known cultivated strain, Cs-4, even turned out under genetic analysis not to be Cordyceps sinensis at all but a related fungus, Samsoniella hepiali. In 2025 the European Commission clarified that this too is not novel in supplements. In short: what is called "Cordyceps sinensis" is cultivated mycelium with a long history of use, and that is permitted.

So is militaris dangerous and sinensis safe?

The law does not say that, and neither do we. The law only says that for militaris the evidence is missing and for sinensis the history suffices. In Asia, Cordyceps militaris is eaten and drunk on a large scale, and there is plenty of research into its constituents. But research is not authorisation, and a history in China is not a history in Europe. It is a rule about paperwork and time, not about poison. Anyone who finds it unreasonable can submit the dossier; that takes years and a lot of money, which is exactly why it has not happened.

What does this mean for growers?

For us: the strain stays in the fridge. We can grow Cordyceps militaris, and it is a fascinating species to watch, but we do not sell a product the law says you may not eat. No grow kit, no dried clubs, no powder. What is in our shop belongs to the species this debate is not about: oyster, shiitake, lion's mane and the rest have centuries of use and fall outside the regulation.

For home growers: the novel food rules concern sale, not what you let grow in a jar on the windowsill. Anyone fruiting a culture of Cordyceps militaris out of curiosity breaks no law. But eating something the EU has not yet assessed is a choice you should make consciously, and we do not recommend it while the assessment is missing.

What does it mean for supplement buyers?

Read the label. If it says Cordyceps militaris, the product may not be sold in the EU and the seller is in breach, however polished the website. If it says Cordyceps sinensis, Cs-4 or Samsoniella hepiali, the sale is permitted. And if you buy from a webshop outside the EU, be aware that since 2025 customs have information to stop shipments containing militaris. The European catalogue is public and searchable on the European Commission website; if in doubt, look the species up there.

The summary

Cordyceps militaris: cultivable, but an unauthorised novel food in the EU, so not for sale. Cordyceps sinensis: not cultivable, but with a history of use before 1997, so permitted in supplements, in the form of fermented mycelium. The authorities have been enforcing this actively since 2025. And we stick to mushrooms you are simply allowed to eat. If the law changes, you will read it here first.