Foragers have been warned to be extremely careful with wild mushrooms and in particular not to allow children to eat them without expert advice on their safety.
The warning from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) comes at the start of the "foraging season" when thousands of people take to the fields and hedgerows looking for edible delicacies including mushrooms, fruits and nuts.
But the seemingly harmless mushroom can be a lethal poison. The amanita phalloides or "death cap" variety, for example, is very similar in appearance to a supermarket mushroom, but is said to have been responsible for deaths all the way back to the Roman emperor Claudius in AD54. Although the taste is pleasant, just 28 grammes of amanita phalloides are enough to kill.
Cooking does not eliminate the toxins in mushrooms and in recent times a woman in the UK died when she put a handful of “death cap” mushrooms in her soup.
Similar
Last year 19 cases of poisoning related to wild mushrooms were notified to the National Poisons Information Centre of Ireland, involving seven adults and 12 children. Already this year, 18 cases have been notified, involving seven adults and 11 children.
Similarity of appearance makes spotting poisonous mushrooms all the more difficult. The panther cap amanita pantherina closely resembles the edible blusher mushroom, but has caused many foragers hallucinations and sickness, and in some cases may be fatal.
Ray Ellard, director of consumer protection with the FSAI, stressed the need for parents to ensure children do not eat wild mushrooms growing in gardens or fields.
