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A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

cleveland.com

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Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#3
It is fall and mushroom picking time! Here is my simple advice: The first mushrooms you should get to know in your area are the deadly ones. When you find a mushroom that looks like an edible one, temper your enthusiasm and be realistic. Mistakes are made when people really want to find an edible one. If it definitely doesn't look like a deadly one and might be the edible you identify, first try a small amount and see how it sits with you. Most are just indigestible and give stomach aches. If it looks anything like the deadly ones, when it doubt, toss it out.

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#4

Mushroom foraging sounds really fun but I’m too scared to eat anything that I find.

There's no wiggle room. You need to be 1000% certain of identification, if you decide to eat a mushroom.

That's how I've been doing it for the last decade. I forage a lot of mushrooms, but don't consume anything I'm not sure of.

Also, there are "beginner" mushrooms, that don't have any dangerous look-alikes, such as the famous "chicken of the woods" (laetiporus sulphureus). You can't really go wrong with mushroom like these.

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#5
post #3

It is fall and mushroom picking time! Here is my simple advice: The first mushrooms you should get to know in your area are the deadly ones. When you find a mushroom that looks like an edible one, temper your enthusiasm and be realistic. Mistakes are made when people really want to find an edible one. If it definitely doesn't look like a deadly one and might be the edible you identify, first try a small amount and se…

That's really good advice. Even perfectly edible mushrooms can give you adverse effects. Eating just a piece and wait for 24 hours is how I usually go.

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#6
post #4

Mushroom foraging sounds really fun but I’m too scared to eat anything that I find.

There's no wiggle room. You need to be 1000% certain of identification, if you decide to eat a mushroom. That's how I've been doing it for the last decade. I forage a lot of mushrooms, but don't consume anything I'm not sure of. Also, there are "beginner" mushrooms, that don't have any dangerous look-alikes, such as the famous "chicken of the woods" (laetiporus sulphureus). You can't really go wrong with mushroom lik…

My farmers' market has a mushroom guy that brings in things that I've never seen before.

Some of them get expensive and a few I've found rather unpleasant.

There is absolutely no way that I could find these things myself, so I would suggest a dealer like this if you are in an area large enough to support one.

This is the dealer at my market:

https://www.wildgrowthgourmetmushrooms.com/

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#7
post #3

It is fall and mushroom picking time! Here is my simple advice: The first mushrooms you should get to know in your area are the deadly ones. When you find a mushroom that looks like an edible one, temper your enthusiasm and be realistic. Mistakes are made when people really want to find an edible one. If it definitely doesn't look like a deadly one and might be the edible you identify, first try a small amount and se…

I read advice once that if you were lost in the woods and didn’t know what might be poisonous, rub it on your arm and wait. If no reaction after 15 minutes, rub it on the inside of your lips lightly. If no reaction after 15 minutes, eat a very small amount, and if no reaction within a number of hours, you’re good to go.

No idea if this is accurate but it seems reasonable.

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#8
Url changed from https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/10/ohio-foragers-are-ac..., which points to this.

I've also changed the title to a representative phrase from the body of the (current) article.

(Submitted title was "Fungi Foragers Freaked"; please don't post titles like that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#9
Perhaps the key point of this news story:

’But unbeknownst to many, Ohio is home to some of the world’s deadliest mushrooms -- and they can look a whole lot like their edible cousins.

A recent rash of nearly lethal poisonings have experts worried that mobile naturalist apps may be lulling otherwise cautious citizens into a false sense of security ‘

Re: A rash of nearly lethal mushroom poisonings in Ohio

#10
post #8

Url changed from https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/10/ohio-foragers-are-ac... , which points to this. I've also changed the title to a representative phrase from the body of the (current) article. (Submitted title was "Fungi Foragers Freaked"; please don't post titles like that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html )

Thanks for that, the Ars Technica article completely glossed over the concern of false-identifications from mobile naturalist apps.
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