Fall is here and it is mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest. Each fall public health notices an increase in Emergency Room visits and Poison Center calls for illnesses associated with mushroom exposures.
Never pick and eat wild mushrooms unless they’ve been identified by an experienced mycologist (mushroom expert). If you are interested in learning more about wild mushrooms, consider joining the Oregon Mycological Society. Lookalike mushrooms can fool you! Learning how to identify mushrooms in one part of the country or another country is not reliable for identifying mushrooms in another area. Keep a close eye on kids and pets when exploring the outdoors.
Mushroom poisoning is serious and can make you very sick! Cooking DOES NOT make a mushroom safe to eat. Call the Poison Center in case of exposure, 1-800-222-1222.
In 1988, one of the rarest forms of mushroom poisoning in North America, Amanita phalloides, left five Oregon residents seriously ill, including four who underwent liver transplants.
For more information on the death cap mushroom, Amanita phalloides, see: