Amsterdam, 27 September 2010 - October is international breast cancer awareness month: pink month. And pink month calls for pink mushrooms. In Australia, the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA will once again replace the familiar blue punnets with pink punnets, to draw attention to the issue of breast cancer. The AMGA, which represents mushroom growers in Australia, will also donate 50,000 Australian dollars to the fight against breast cancer. Knowing that the cause needs as much funding as it can get, mushroom growers decided to fundraise further and raise even more money by organising a Charity Motorbike Ride.

The Charity Motorbike Ride is the brainchild of the Australian charity Mushrooms for Life and David Tolson from the mushroom growers sector. The Ride is organised to end in Perth on the eve of an annual international conference. The arrival of 30 mushroom loving bikers dressed in pink reflector jackets at the conference will be the perfect kick-off for the “Mushrooms go Pink in October” promotion. The aim of the Ride is to draw attention to breast cancer and to raise funds for breast cancer research. Part of the funds raised will go to the City of Hope hospital in Los Angeles in the United States of America, and the rest will go to the Mushrooms and Cancer Global Research Program.

Sydney to Perth Charity Motorbike Ride
The Ride starts on Wednesday 29 September, just outside Sydney, and will end 4,000 km later on Tuesday 5 October 2010 in Perth. The Ride has attracted a group of 30 enthusiastic bikers from all over the world, including nine Dutch bikers, all of whom work in the mushroom industry. Apart from being avid bikers and out for fun, they all support the Ride’s cause and are taking part to raise funds for breast cancer research. Apart from the bikers, 25 Dutch companies who are involved in the mushroom industry have given donations to the cause. In the Netherlands, one out of eight women get breast cancer, while in Australia that figure is one out of 11.

City of Hope research
The City of Hope Hospital has a special unit which carries out research on the link between mushrooms and their inhibiting effect on the development of breast cancer. The research is looking into developing preventive therapies based on protective ingredients that are found in some foodstuffs. The first phase of this large-scale research programme was started in 2003. The initial experiments have already indicated that the natural ingredients in mushrooms, unlike those in other common vegetables such as onion, carrot and broccoli, inhibit the development of the aromatase enzyme.  This enzyme is partly responsible for the growth and development of tumour cells in the breast. In 2006, laboratory tests were being done with the isolated ingredients from mushrooms. The positive indications triggered tests with mice in 2007-2008. Mice who consumed mushrooms mixed into their food appeared to have far lower rates of breast cancer than the control mice. The positive results of the mice experiment led to the next step of testing the inhibiting effect of mushrooms on breast cancer in humans. The intervention test was started in 2009 using women at high risk of getting breast cancer. The test will run for two years, and will point to whether mushrooms indeed do play a role in reducing breast cancer rates in women. The results of the test will be known in 2011.

Dutch mushroom growers and the mushroom processing industry are supporting this important research through the Charity Motorbike Ride.

Follow the bikers on www.mushroomsandmotorbikes.wordpress.com.

About MPF
The Mushroom Promotion Foundation (MPF) in Amsterdam was founded in 2008 on the initiative of mushroom growers in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain to promote mushroom consumption. This European organisation mobilises and represents companies throughout the mushroom industry, from the compost suppliers to the processing companies. The promotional campaigns are directed at providing information to consumers about the versatility of mushrooms as well as their nutritional and health aspects. MPF’s core message is: mushrooms are healthy, delicious and easy and quick to prepare. MPF started a Europe-wide promotional campaign in 2010. As part of the campaign, MPF created the website www.champignon-id.com. Consumers can refer to the website for extensive information about mushrooms and for recipes using mushrooms and fungi.

Note to the editor, not for publication
For further information about the Mushroom Promotion Foundation (MPF) and the information contained in this press release, contact Famke Kamphorst, Communication Manager MPF, tel. +31 (0)6 100 655 87, email: f.kamphorst@champignon-id.com. 

The MPF team launched its Mushroom promotion programme in the German market at the Grüne Woche which opened its doors for the 75th time in Berlin to welcome 450.000 visitors in 10 days. An average of 250 visitors per hour tasted one of many mushroom recipes and learened about the German language website Champignonidee.de

Get more out of Mushrooms

More Europeans are exploring the possibilities to use mushrooms following the launch of the UK-version of the mushroom idea website. The website, www.mushroomidea.co.uk, is packed with consumer information to fully benefit from all possibilities with mushrooms. It joins the Dutch and German language websites (www.champignonidee.nl and www.champignonidee.de) launched earlier this month.  Together with the French website, that will also be launched this week, it covers the largest consumer groups in Europe.

The Mushroom Promotion Foundation (MPF), a foundation dedicated to inform consumers about the versatility and virtues of the mushroom, has launched the websites to complement multimedia campaigns which are now running in the Netherlands and Germany.

“The mushroom is in need of extra attention from the public”, said Raymond van Buuren, MPF program director. Speaking on the final day of the 25^th annual “Grüne Woche”, the food, beverage and agricultural Fair held in Berlin, Van Buuren said that the Fair, which saw some 450,000 visitors, had been the ideal venue to kick off the German campaign. From the MPF’s interactive, multi-media stand, chefs served an average of 900 mushroom bites per day. Mushroom dishes were accompanied by recipes which also included a reference to the website. Van Buuren stated: “many people enjoy the taste of mushrooms, but not everyone is aware of just how good for you they are. Tasty, packed full of protein, mushrooms are a real super food. The mushroom idea website provides people with lots of information and recipes, so they can make their own mushroom meals.”

 Information and recipes
www.mushroomidea.co.uk provides consumers with information, inspiring recipes and a host of other facts about the history and cultivation of mushrooms across Europe.  More important are the facts and figures emphasizing mushrooms as a super food. Mushrooms are considered very healthy. They have very few calories, but are still high in fibre and are an important source of key vitamins and vegetable proteins

About MPF
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Mushroom Promotion Foundation (MPF) is dedicated to increase the consumption of mushrooms, by transferring knowledge and inspiring consumers to get more out of their mushrooms as part of a healthy, versatile super food. The MPF is an initiative of the mushroom sector in The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain and represents companies active in all aspects of the supply chain, composting companies, farmers, and processing companies.

Note to the editor, not for publication
For more information about Mushroom Promotion Foundation, please contact Famke Kamphorst, Communication Manager MPF, tel. +31 (0)6 100 655 87, e-mail: f.kamphorst@champignon-id.com.