Picking and eating mushrooms: watch out for the risks of poisoning!

The health consequences of poisoning can be serious and lead to hospitalization: severe digestive problems, kidney complications, liver damage that may require transplantation. Some may require hospitalization for resuscitation, sometimes leading to death.

These poisonings occur mainly in October, when weather conditions combining precipitation, humidity and freshness favor the growth of the mushrooms and their collection.

To limit these risks, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Safety (ANSES) invites you to respect certain recommendations.

Before picking

• Bring a wicker basket, a crate or a carton to deposit your mushrooms. Never use plastic bags, they accelerate decay. Your container should be large enough to separate the different species and thus avoid mixing potentially poisonous pieces with edible mushrooms;
• Choosing a place of collection away from polluted sites (roadsides, industrial areas, landfills, pastures...), because fungi absorb the pollutants to which they are exposed;
• Inquire about structures that can help identify a pickup when in doubt: some pharmacists or mycology associations (mushroom studies) in your area.

During picking

• Collect only the mushrooms you know perfectly: some highly toxic poisonous mushrooms look very similar to edible species;
• Be vigilant: Poisonous mushrooms may grow where you picked edible mushrooms another year;
• Collect only the specimens in good condition and remove the entire mushroom (foot and hat) for identification;
• Avoid collecting young specimens that have not finished forming, which encourages confusion, and old specimens that are at risk of being damaged or colonized by worms or insects.

After picking

• Wash hands thoroughly;
• Take a photo of your harvest before cooking: it will be useful in case of intoxication to decide the appropriate treatment;
• If there is any doubt about the condition or identification of any of the harvested mushrooms, do not consume the harvest until it has been checked by a pharmacist or mycology association;
• Store mushrooms without contact with other foods in the refrigerator (maximum 4°C) and consume within 2 days after picking;
• Never consume raw mushrooms and cook each species separately and sufficiently: 20 to 30 minutes in a pan or 15 minutes in boiling water with discharge of cooking water. This destroys parasites and bacteria, and makes some species edible (shiitake, morels, some bollets);
• Eat mushrooms in a reasonable amount, 150 to 200 grams per adult per week;
• Never offer picked mushrooms to young children and avoid doing so to the elderly (high risk of dehydration and death in case of intoxication) and pregnant women (certain bacteria or parasites such as toxoplasmosis, at risk for the fetus, are present in the soil and could infect them);
• Do not consume mushrooms identified only through a smartphone mushroom recognition app, due to the high risk of error;
• Do not consume mushrooms marketed by non-professionals (

  on the fly

  ).

What should I do if I have symptoms?

In case of symptoms following the consumption of mushrooms: abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, tremor, dizziness, visual disturbances in particular, it is necessary to immediately call a poison control center mentioning this consumption:

• Angers: 02 41 48 21 21
• Bordeaux: 05 56 96 40 80
• Lille: 08 00 59 59 59
• Lyon: 04 72 11 69 11
• Marseille: 04 91 75 25 25
• Nancy: 03 83 22 50 50
• Paris: 01 40 05 48 48
• Toulouse: 05 61 77 74 47

Record the times of the affected meal and the first signs, and keep any remnants of the pickup for identification.

The time to onset of symptoms varies from a few hours after consumption to more than 12 hours. The intoxicated person may rapidly deteriorate.

In case of vital distress: loss of consciousness, respiratory distress... call 15 or 112.