Did You Know Some Mushrooms Can Kill You, And Some, Can Make You Sick?
Attention Readers: Do not eat wild mushrooms…yes, they may look perfectly okay but there are so many mushrooms all over the East Coast right now and they’re attracting people to fry or prepare them in casseroles and for steaks, chops, to enjoy their flavor. Watch out!! “There are deadly mushrooms that can grow in your lawn,” said Rebecca Rader, executive secretary of the North American Mycological Association based in Christianburg, Virginia. Mycology studies fungi’s which includes mushrooms.
“There are some that can kill you and many that can make you sick,” said Rader.
Doctors at Georgetown University warned against eating wild mushrooms after people in the area fell dangerously ill from toxic mushrooms they ate.
A man and his wife picked mushrooms from their backyard in Springfield, Virginia to use in their stir-fry. They were sick within hours of eating the fungi which was known as “death cap” mushrooms, and the man’s, symptoms got worse within days, it was found he was suffering from the early stages of liver failure.
“Most Mushrooms are not easy to identify,” Rader indicated.
“It would take someone who is skilled at looking at mushrooms to determine which one is edible mushrooms or a “highly toxic mushroom”, said Paul Peterson, biologist and chief of resource management at the Prince William Forest Park., and he also said, “A mushroom book may say it’s edible but the color could be temporary.”
According to Michael Kuo, the principal developer of MushroomExpert.Com, and an amateur mycologist, mushrooms are not like most other organisms people are used to seeing in nature and identifying with field guides or pictures on the internet. There are tens of thousand of fungal species and many of them are currently undocumented by science, according to Kuo.
People, who are amateurs should not merely do their research but they need to do their research with someone who has expertise before going out to look for edible wild mushrooms. As far as I’m concerned, I would still be very leery of eating wild mushrooms.
People, you may be an expert, but I personally, would not eat wild mushrooms selected by anyone because I have a terrible fear of being poisoned to death…be ware of what you eat and know beyond a shadow of a doubt…you know what you’re eating.
Georgetown Doctors too, err on the side of caution and they’re advising people to buy their mushrooms from legitimate farms or grocery stores.
Reference:
News & Messenger Serving Prince William, Manassas & Manassas Park, Virginia – by Aileen M. Streng, The Associated Press Contributed To This Report