Mushroom picking and consumption: beware of the risks of poisoning!

500 poisonings related to the collection and consumption of mushrooms have already been identified by the poison control centers since the beginning of July. A peak is expected in October, when weather conditions combining precipitation, humidity and freshness favor the growth of fungi.

The consequences of poisoning on health can be serious and lead to hospitalization: severe digestive disorders, kidney complications, liver damage that may require a transplant. Some may require hospitalization in intensive care, and sometimes lead to death.

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

Before picking

• Provide a wicker basket, a box or a cardboard to deposit his mushrooms. Never use plastic bags, they speed up rot. Your container should be large enough to separate the different species and thus avoid mixing potentially poisonous mushroom pieces with edible mushrooms.
• Choose a picking place far from polluted sites (roadsides, industrial areas, landfills, pastures...), because fungi absorb the pollutants to which they are exposed.
• Find out about the structures that can help identify a harvest in case of doubt: some pharmacists or mycology associations (study of fungi) in your area.

During picking

• Pick up only the fungi you know perfectly: some highly toxic poisonous fungi are very similar to edible species.
• Be vigilant: poisonous mushrooms can grow where you picked edible mushrooms another year.
• Collect only specimens in good condition and remove the entire fungus (foot and hat) to allow identification.
• Avoid collecting young specimens that have not finished forming, which promotes confusion, and old specimens that may be damaged or colonized by worms or insects.

After picking

• Wash hands thoroughly.
• Take a photo of your crop before cooking: it will be useful in case of poisoning to decide on the appropriate treatment.
• In the slightest doubt about the condition or identification of one of the harvested mushrooms, do not consume the harvest before having it checked by a pharmacist or a mycology association.
• Store mushrooms 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 rejection of cooking water. This destroys parasites and bacteria and makes some species edible (shiitake, morels, some boletus).
• Eat mushrooms in reasonable quantities, 150 to 200 grams per adult per week.
• Never offer harvested mushrooms to young children and avoid doing so to the elderly (high risk of dehydration and death in case of poisoning) and pregnant women (some 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 by a smartphone mushroom recognition application alone, due to the high risk of error.
• Do not consume mushrooms marketed by non-professionals (“on the run”).

What to do in case of symptoms?

If you develop symptoms of mushroom use (such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, tremor, dizziness, vision problems), call a doctor immediately. poison control center by 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 time of the meal and the onset of the first signs, and keep the leftovers for identification.

The time to onset of symptoms varies from a few hours after consumption to more than 12 hours. The condition of the intoxicated person can worsen rapidly.

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