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By: Janice Godshalk
Photo credit: Federico Calledda
Multiple different Deathcap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) varying in age and size, In a forest in Provincia di Piacenza, Italia.
Many people in California struggle with food security and hunger. With prices rising in stores, more people have started foraging for their own food not knowing about what to look out for. One in every five Californians struggle with hunger for food security at this time. Now California has had one of the worst outbreaks of toxic mushrooms, even leading to three deaths and more hospitalized.
Jessica Goyette, science teacher, has been a teacher at Pen Argy for nine years with a total of twelve years teaching. Jessica expressed that “I fear that some people watch tik toks and reels where people forage for all sorts of foods found in the wild and think that they are experts. It can be dangerous!”
Recently on January 8, the Sonoma County, California health officer issued an advisory against eating wild mushrooms. This advisory was released after thirty-five cases of symptoms and three deaths, as well as three liver transplants. One of the individuals who got a liver transplant was under the age of eighteen.
To add perspective, fewer than five mushroom poisoning cases are reported statewide in an average year, according to health officials. There have been thirty five cases since November 18 and January 4 in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
In an ABC San Francisco television station interview Rais Vohra, a medical director for the California Poison Control System, explained "This is probably the largest outbreak in California history; 35 total cases, including three fatalities and three liver transplants."
The mushrooms in question that caused this situation are called the toxic death cap mushrooms. However, the scientific name for the species of mushrooms is referred to as Amanita Phalloides. The CDPH has explained early symptoms of mushroom poisoning as, typically, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Symptoms will only appear six to twenty-four hours after ingestion.
The heavy rainfall at this time in California helped germinate the perfect environment for the growth of the mushrooms. Dr. Michael Stacey, the interim health officer for Sonoma County, said "Eating wild mushrooms gathered without expert identification can be unsafe, some harmful varieties closely resemble edible mushrooms, even to experienced foragers."
Now officials are advising people to be cautious or avoid foraging for wild mushrooms and to be cautious when buying them from street vendors and at farmers' markets. The officials also asked that individuals avoid eating mushrooms picked by friends or family, as well as to watch kids and animals outside so they will not ingest the poison. The last point they advised was that poisonous mushrooms can’t be cooked, boiled, frozen or dried to make them safe to eat.
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