California officials are warning foragers after an outbreak of poisoning linked to wild mushrooms that has killed one adult and caused severe liver damage in several patients, including children.
The state poison control system has identified 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, likely caused by death cap mushrooms, the health department said Friday. The toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones because of their appearance and taste.
“Death cap mushrooms contain potentially deadly toxins that can lead to liver failure,” Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Because the death cap can easily be mistaken for edible safe mushrooms, we advise the public not to forage for wild mushrooms at all during this high-risk season.”
Crazy that people don’t know how to validate what they forage when there are deadly lookalikes. If you pick a yellow/white/green tinged cap with white gills, obvious attached annulus and a white volva, toss it aside, especially if you don’t know what any of that means. Foraging is fun, but there are far safer varieties that are easier to ID.
Rather, don't touch it, and if you do, wash your hands (in the woods? Come up with something that does not bruise!). These things might have so high load that even stains or spores could screw you up.
We once found one of these beauties: deadly poisonous raw, delicious when cooked seven times. I only touched it, and must have put my fingers to my mouth later: strong headaches and stomach pain for the rest of the day.
Unfortunately researchers seem to believe that no amount of cooking removes all the toxins, and in some countries, like Sweden and Finland, where it's among the most valued mushrooms to pick, it's adviced not to use them for food anymore.