Death cap mushrooms sicken Californians

The winter season has brought cold and wet conditions that are perfect for fungi like death cap mushrooms, or Amanita phalloides, to grow in California, experts say, but with that has come a rash of people mistakenly eating them thinking they’re safe.

- BY SANDRA MCDONALD

THE POISONOUS death cap grows near an oak or other hardwood tree. It can cause severe liver damage.

(SEAN GALLUP Getty Images)

So far this year, at least 23 people have been sickened by eating death cap mushrooms in California and one person has died.

When eaten, they can cause severe liver damage, requiring intensive care and even causing death in some cases.

Cases have been concentrated in Monterey County and the San Francisco Bay Area, but the danger remains across the state, said Dr. Rais Vohra, medical director for the California Poison Control System's Fresno-Madera Division.

“It’s really not worth the risk,” Vohra said, adding that the safest mushrooms to eat are found in the grocery store.

Do your research before eating

But foraging enthusiasts say there are ways to enjoy the activity safely — it just takes a bit of research.

There's no silver bullet for finding out whether a wild mushroom is poisonous unless you know what species it is, said Rudy Diaz, president of the Los Angeles Mycological Society.

Old wives’ tales of silver spoons turning black when they touch a poisonous mushroom, or that only bright-colored or foul-tasting mushrooms are unsafe, are false, he said.

“A novice forager should only eat wild mushrooms after they've been taught to identify them by an expert in their region,” Diaz said.