Deadly mushroom poisonings in California mark record US outbreak

[riversedge]

Deadly mushroom poisonings in California mark record US outbreak
Health officials warn that cooking, boiling, freezing or drying wild mushrooms does not neutralize toxins.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/deadly-mushroom-poisonings-california-mark-223422895.html



Anthony Thompson, USA TODAY


Sat, May 16, 2026 at 5:34 PM CDT

Can I eat that? How to figure out if a mushroom is edible or not.

California is dealing with what experts describe as the largest known outbreak of deadly mushroom poisonings in U.S. history, with 47 confirmed cases since November, four deaths and at least four illnesses that required liver transplants, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The outbreak has stretched across at least 12 counties in Northern California and the Central Coast, far exceeding the typical statewide total of fewer than five cases of mushroom poisonings per year.

Most illnesses are linked to amatoxin-containing mushrooms, including death caps (Amanita phalloides) and western destroying angels (Amanita ocreata), both highly toxic species that can closely resemble edible mushrooms............................

[Blues Heron]

1. Foraging is very trendy right now

[hlthe2b]

2. There are not enough liver donors possible for the increase in need from this totally preventable

toxicity and for many, sheer idiocy. Do parents not know themselves and thus never impart the knowledge and admonition to children to never eat wild mushrooms because the distinctions between safe and toxic can fool even those trained to distinguish? Increasingly, Darwin is being proven right--over and over and over again. sigh...

[Norrrm]

3. The problem is mushrooming. (for clarity - I dislike them)

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61SUSGvfvrL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

[Buzz cook]

4. The first time I went mushroom hunting

Well besides Psilocybin. We found a bunch of nice ones in the Cascades. When we got back to Seattle we found out that there was a meeting of the mycological society going on that day.
So we took our finds to the show and they double checked them.
One of the guys took our pig’s ears (Gomphus clavatus) to put into a display. Had to look up the Latin for that one.
Besides that we got some boletus mushrooms that have pores on the underside instead of gills, so they're easier to identify.
At any rate go with someone that knows what their doing. Learn what mushrooms you can expect to find and how to ID them. Get a second opinion.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. I'm amazed there's no POC test available for foragers to use

I don’t eat, and won’t eat wild-foraged mushrooms anywhere, whether it’s from friends or an expensive resturaunt. Nope. And I LOVE mushrooms, but no.
One of the earliest memories I have as a baby nurse was a middle-aged lady motionless in her gown, surrounded by her family and friends. Her skin was a color I had never seen before or since. It was at once grey and blue-green and orange but the most predominant color by far was a deep, saturated, buttercup yellow.

Wild mushrooms.


No thank you.