Since August 1, more than 250 cases of mushroom poisoning have been registered, the rainy season has passed the harvesting period in several marzes, the health authorities emphasize. This is twice as many as in 2022, according to the Agency for Health Security (ANSES), which reports the figures found by poison control centres.
In several regions of France, rainy weather in August contributed to the growth of fungi, the health agency explains, encouraging “vigilance“.
Poisoning occurs for several reasons.confusing edible species with poisonous species, sometimes due to the use of a mushroom recognition application on a smartphone (…), or the consumption of edible mushrooms in poor condition, poorly preserved or insufficiently cooked“.
Between July 1 and December 31, 2022, 1,923 cases of poisoning were reported to poison control centers. Higher than previous years (1,269 in 2021), but with a slight decrease in the number of serious cases: 37 high-severity cases (compared to 41 in 2021), including two deaths (compared to 4 deaths in 2021).
Ignorance
In addition, although it is not recommended to serve them wild-picked mushrooms, 74 infants were poisoned, including an 11-month-old child with severe hepatitis that required a stay in the intensive care unit.
In 2022, 30 people out of 1923 poisonings used smartphone recognition apps, ANSES says.
To avoid accidents, ANSES, Poison Control Centers and the Directorate General of Health remind you to take only mushrooms that you know very well; in fact, some highly poisonous mushrooms look very similar to edible species.
If in doubt about the identity of one of the mushrooms collected, health authorities advise not to use the crop before it is checked by a specialist in the field, a pharmacist or mycological association.
They also remind that you should never feed picked mushrooms to small children and do not eat mushrooms detected by a smartphone recognition app due to the high risk of error.
Source: Le Figaro
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