Categories: Lifestyle

Picking mushrooms: is it dangerous?

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It’s almost autumn and many mushrooms have already appeared. But be careful, the little Sunday picking can quickly become dangerous if you don’t know a little about it! Here are some tips to avoid turning the Sunday walk into a hospital nightmare.

Poison alert

The mushroom picking is one of the pleasures of this back-to-school season.

However, the health watch institute (InVS) is launching a alert to attract the attention of the general public at the beginning of September, because 212 case of mushroom poisoning have been recorded since the end of June, particularly in Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées.

Indeed, some dangerous mushrooms are easy to recognize, such as the fly agaric (with a red cap spotted with white), but other poisonous species are much less identifiable.

The InVS therefore calls on amateurs to be cautious, even if this year no fatal cases were reported, unlike last summer, because poisoning can be serious and very often leads to hospital.

A few tips to follow

You should only pick up the mushrooms that you are sure to know perfectlyand, in the slightest doubt, it is important to seek the advice of a specialist: pharmacist or mycology association.

When picking, separate the different varieties of mushrooms : thus, if one of the species is toxic, it will not contaminate the others (because if everything is together, and a poisonous mushroom is in the middle of the basket, you have to throw away the whole collection!).

Collect whole mushrooms (foot included) and in good condition: thus, they will be more easily identifiable, both for tasting and in the event of poisoning. By the way, when you eat mushrooms, it is advisable tokeep a copy intact, uncooked. That way, in case of poisoning, the doctors will find it much easier to treat you (when you know the fungus responsible, you know the toxin at the origin of the poisoning and it’s much easier to treat the symptoms when we know the cause).

Avoid picking mushrooms near polluted sites (industrial zone, highway, landfill, treated field, etc.) because mushrooms are real sponges that very easily soak up toxic substances from the environment.

Eat your mushrooms quickly, maximum 2 days after picking. Always eat them well cooked, never raw.

In case of onset of diarrhea or vomiting after eating mushrooms, it is imperative to call 15 or a poison control center.

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