7 Signs and Symptoms of Mushroom Poisoning
Foraging for mushrooms has become a popular pastime, particularly in the Northwest where wild mushrooms grow in abundance. The trick is in understanding which mushrooms are safe and which are poisonous. Mushroom poisoning is the result of the ingestion of toxic substances present in a mushroom, which typically occurs after a person misidentifies a toxic mushroom as an edible species or does not prepare the mushroom properly. Unfortunately, some toxic mushrooms resemble their edible counterparts in color and general appearance.
The best way to prevent mushroom poisoning is to become very familiar with the mushrooms they are planning to pick as well as any mushrooms that look similar. It is important for foragers to know that edibility or toxicity of some species varies with geographic location.