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Question 61: May we eat fermented foods and mushrooms? (“Ellen G. White’s Counsels on Fermented Foods and Mushrooms”) 101Q 137

I would like to find out what Ellen White has counseled on fermented foods and mushrooms. I am particularly concerned with soy sauce, miso, and tempeh, and even soy yogurt. They seem to be healthy foods, but someone told me that Mrs. White says we shouldn’t be eating these. 101Q 137.1

Also, do mushrooms fall into this category? I became very ill after eating some the other day. It may not have been the mushrooms, but my instinct or something makes me think it was. I don’t remember ever getting sick on mushrooms before. Again, someone said Mrs. White counsels against mushrooms or fungus foods. I don’t want to get weird about the diet issue, but I would like to know if there are counsels on these matters. 101Q 137.2

I could find no references in Mrs. White’s writings to the “fermented foods” you asked about. Nor are there any occurrences of the words mushroom or mushrooms in her published writings, and the six references to fungus are all metaphorical. In other words, I simply don’t find her condemning the foods you have asked about. She didn’t address them. 101Q 137.3