# Really, how safe are store-bought mushrooms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140 "2013-01-14T05:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/21 "2013-01-14T19:08:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I recall many stories of Europeans here in the US who have ended up poisoned by hand picked mushrooms. It was usually stated that they were unfamiliar with poisonous varieties here that resembled edible versions back home. These were reported in the news, but rarely with much detail, so I have no idea if that is representative of anything. It’s not unheard of for Asians to poison themselves with Deathcaps after moving to Europe or the USA - as these resemble edible Paddy Straw mushrooms from back home - but again - this is ignorance or carelessness - not any fundamental impossibility of identification unique to fungi. People are quite capable of making the same kind of mistakes with berries, leaves, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/22 "2013-01-14T19:15:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Wild-picked mushrooms sold on market stalls and directly from collectors to restaurants etc possibly pose a slight risk, as there is the potential for both parties to make a mistake - but it is worth re-emphasising - fatal poisoning from fungi happens because of avoidable mistakes, not because fungi are somehow impossible to properly identify. Back when I lived in Bloomington, Indiana, there were many vendors who sold mushrooms at the local Farmers’ Market. I was told at one point that one of the rules for vendors at the market was that all wild-picked mushrooms sold at the market had to be examined first by a mycologist from the local state university. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/23 "2013-01-14T19:17:32Z")
To add to the mushroom confusion there is at least one type that’s toxicity is dependent on the tree it is growing on, on some trees it’s safe to eat on others it’s poison. Well that’s what I remember from a mushroom identification book I read at a hiking shelter. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/24 "2013-01-14T20:37:37Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > To add to the mushroom confusion there is at least one type that’s toxicity is dependent on the tree it is growing on, on some trees it’s safe to eat on others it’s poison. Well that’s what I remember from a mushroom identification book I read at a hiking shelter. Sounds like Chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) - a highly-prized edible fungus that grows on a variety of deciduous trees, but also on Yew - and in the latter case, it is not safe to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/25 "2013-01-14T21:39:13Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > That’s definitely one thing about some (all?) of the Western European countries that’s pretty cool…say, a chef in France can go bag a brace of pheasants in the morning and be serving them in his restaurant that evening. > > I trust the ability of a highly-trained culinarian to identify possible issues with meat, produce, etc than some guy in a suit from the Health Department armed with a pen and a meat thermometer. Not that I’m a hunter, but I’d assume the chef would [hang](http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/) the pheasants for four days first to develop flavor… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/26 "2013-01-14T22:15:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I recall many stories of Europeans here in the US who have ended up poisoned by hand picked mushrooms. It was usually stated that they were unfamiliar with poisonous varieties here that resembled edible versions back home. These were reported in the news, but rarely with much detail, so I have no idea if that is representative of anything. That’s correct. My old boss was an amateur mycologist (amateur yet published in several high end journals) and was the person the police and hospitals called in central NJ for mushroom poisoning. Many of not most of the cases were for this reason - Asians and Eastern Europeans both. He was called to identify the suspect mushroom which let the doctors proceed with the correct remedy. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/27 "2013-01-14T23:02:16Z")
My county has a very large mushroom farming industry. I’ve seen local labels in stores 3000 miles from here. I would like to assure the OP that commercial mushrooms are grown _ **indoors** _, in sterilized compost. They don’t need light (being fungi), but do need controlled humidity and temp. The chances of your getting a wild and toxic mushroom in the mix at the grocery store approach zero. I come from a family of amateur mushroom hunters, and live in a prime area for wild mushroom harvesting. We all took a series of classes in mushroom ID before we began this adventure 20 years ago. Your area may be different, but here on the west coast of North America, this is the basic skinny: There are a lot of mushroom species which will disagree with you. In general they will just make you puke them back up. There are very very few mushroom species which will kill you. Most of these are insignificant LBM’s (‘little brown mushrooms’ of no edible interest). The only two not in this class, in this area, are both in the Amanita family. Although there are also edible Amanitas, only people with a good degree of skill at keying out species and a sense of adventure tend to harvest them. Amanita phalloides, common name Death Cap, and A.ocreata aka Destroying Angel, sicken people every year locally, and fairly regularly they kill them. The reason people harvest them is that they are large, beautiful, and meaty. The reason people die is because you don’t usually have _ **any** _ symptoms until your liver is irreparably damaged, which can be days later. The two mushrooms do superficially mimic other common mushrooms which are very edible. Before their gills open they look a bit like puffballs, and after, something like Agaricus campestris (the ancestor of the Grocery Store mushroom), only bigger. But the resemblance is superficial, and if you are correctly instructed, easy to spot. Wild mushroom hunting is really fun. Just like many other reasonable activities, you need to know some stuff to stay safe. There’s no magic to it, just education. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/28 "2013-01-15T13:54:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Firstly, fungi aren’t generally any more difficult to identify than any other sort of lifeforms on this planet. The people who make fatal misidentification of wild fungi do so mostly through carelessness or ignorance - not because they are faced with an impossible task. Although I agree with your general point (I pick and eat wild mushrooms myself, and can confidently identify the species of interest in my home country), my impression is that fungal species _are_ often particularly difficult to identify. There is a very large number of species, many of which can only be distinguished by microscopic features, and there isn’t even agreement among experts about what constitutes a species. > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Just don’t eat _anything_ from the nightshade family and you will be fine. I know you’re joking, but you may be surprised to hear that black nightshade (solanum nigrum) berries are not poisonous and are rather tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/29 "2013-01-15T14:04:49Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Although I agree with your general point (I pick and eat wild mushrooms myself, and can confidently identify the species of interest in my home country), my impression is that fungal species _are_ often particularly difficult to identify. There is a very large number of species, many of which can only be distinguished by microscopic features, and there isn’t even agreement among experts about what constitutes a species. Correct, but again, Fungi are not unique in this regard - I’m sure there are cases of plants where the difference in species is only microscopically observable in some minute detail of the flowers - it’s probably also true in animals (especially insects). I don’t believe there are any cases where a common or highly-prized edible fungus is identical in all but microscopic detail to something that is poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/30 "2013-01-15T14:36:46Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > there is probably less chance of finding a strange variety mixed in than of encountering poison ivy among the supermarket lettuce. How about a frog in the salad? [chocolate almond crepe: Image](http://chocolatealmondcrepe.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/salad-frog-1.jpg) (image search shows it’s not very rare…) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/31 "2013-01-15T14:54:32Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It’s not unheard of for Asians to poison themselves with Deathcaps after moving to Europe or the USA - as these resemble edible Paddy Straw mushrooms from back home … It happened to a Thai lady visiting her daughter in Sweden a couple of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Chow503](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Chow503](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chow503)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/32 "2015-06-14T20:02:07Z")
In the state of Georgia, it is illegal to sell wild foraged mushrooms, however there are exceptions for packaged wild foraged mushrooms packaged in a big facility. They must have to implement their own standards. I am not sure. However, vendors at farmers markets routinely disregard this law. So, basically, if you buy from a restaurant or market vendor, there is no guarantee that the person who foraged your mushrooms had a clue what they were picking. That’s what makes it so dangerous. The state requires certification as an identification expert for vendors to be able to sell legally, but the state has not set up a certification program yet. So, for the time being, all sales are being done illegally and there is no regulation inr he wild mushrooms you are eating from these restaurants and small vendors. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/33 "2015-06-14T20:17:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > People are often told, as small children, that “that might be poisonous, don’t eat it!”. They rarely care enough to find out as adults whether that was correct or not, and just pass on the information to their kids. I can’t tell you how many people think I’m trying to kill them when I encourage them to taste a violet flower or, god forbid, a serviceberry. > … I have fond memories of finding a patch of alpine strawberries in the alps. I offered to share with my friends, but they didn’t recognize the fruits as strawberries (being much smaller than cultivated strawberries the US.) More for me. 🙂 I was certain of the id of the strawberries. I recognized the leaves, the fruit structure, and the flavor. But I’ve also (rarely) experimented. The first time I saw a service berry I wasn’t familiar with the plant, but tasted one (and spat it out) and liked it enough that i picked a lot and brought them home with some twigs leaves so I could id it. Yum. I’ve since planted one in my back yard, but the birds get all the fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/34 "2015-06-14T21:55:25Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Let’s make exceptions for bell & chili peppers, eggplant, potatoes, tomatillos, and tomatoes. Please? But you’re right that it’s much healthier to avoid _Nicotiana_. > > Edit: Ninjaed by **robert\_columbia**. Good show. Let’s _not_ make an exception for eggplant. //insert pukey-face anti-smiley here// 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/35 "2015-06-14T22:43:41Z")
White button mushrooms contain Agaritine which is a carcinogen. Cooking them eliminates it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/36 "2015-06-14T23:06:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I have fond memories of finding a patch of alpine strawberries in the alps. I offered to share with my friends, but they didn’t recognize the fruits as strawberries (being much smaller than cultivated strawberries the US.) More for me. 🙂 > > I was certain of the id of the strawberries. I recognized the leaves, the fruit structure, and the flavor. But I’ve also (rarely) experimented. Oooh, I’m jealous! Wild strawberries gave me pause the first time I found some, and made me reach for my field guide, because…where are the seeds?! Are these really strawberries? They smell like strawberries… I finally decided to risk it, and, oh, so delicious! 😃 (Yes, I know they’re the fruits, not the seeds, but c’mon, they sure look like seeds!) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/37 "2015-06-14T23:39:08Z")
From the tender age of 7 (at the lattest), I was selling mushrooms I was collecting (the grocer bought them from locals and in turn sold them to some guy who was coming with his truck twice a week…I’ve no clue where they ended up exactly : street markets? Supermarkets? Restaurants? Factories?) So, “raised under controlled conditions and not picked by amateur mushroom hunters from the wild”, my ass. I guess it might be different in other countries, of course, but I would suspect that if nowadays you can’t buy mushrooms collected by a 7 yo, it probably has more to do with parents not letting kids out in the woods by themselves anymore than with the protection of consumers. Anyway, as noted, commonly collected and sold mushrooms are in fact easy to recognize. The toxic/unedible look alike of whatever edible mushroom they warn you about typically isn’t a look alike at all, doesn’t grow in the same spots, etc…Hence, mistakes are extremely unlikely to happen except if you don’t know the edible mushroom to begin with (some mushrooms might be actually difficult to tell apart, but very few people will collect them, and nobody is going to buy them). Besides, even picked by a 7 yo, they go through the hands of a number of people, all of whom handle them regularly. That said, I must admit that despite what I wrote I’m reluctant to buy, cook or consume mushrooms I’m not familiar with. ETA : I was told from a young age to not ever eat any wild berry (except things like blackberries, etc…), and especially the red ones, regardless how tasy they look. I understand that, as mentioned in this thread, there are plenty of berries that are in fact edible and even delicious. But to my regret, I’m unable to recognize any of them. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/38 "2015-06-14T23:51:28Z")
I can’t stand mushrooms anyway unless they are magic ones of course. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/39 "2015-06-15T00:05:28Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Anyway, as noted, commonly collected and sold mushrooms are in fact easy to recognize. The toxic/unedible look alike of whatever edible mushroom they warn you about typically isn’t a look alike at all, doesn’t grow in the same spots, etc…Hence, mistakes are extremely unlikely to happen except if you don’t know the edible mushroom to begin with … That’s how I feel about plants. People, even educators, often give these dire sounding warnings about things like Daucus Carota (wild carrot, Queen Anne’s Lace) looking like the highly toxic Cicuta (water hemlock) so you have to be super duper careful when you’re harvesting and…I don’t see it. Sure, they both have white lacy flowers, but that’s literally all they have in common. The stems are different (hairy vs. smooth), the leaves are different, the arrangement of the umbrels is different, and they grow in different areas (water hemlock, as the name suggests, likes to grow near water. Queen Anne doesn’t like getting her lace wet, and grows in dry areas). Might as well say all [ethnic] people look alike. No, no they really don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140/40 "2015-06-15T00:53:57Z")
**WhyNot** , you can probably imagine some of the reactions I’ve gotten when I tell people I love dandelion salad. Heck, I’ve even met people who were surprised to learn that mulberries were edible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-how-safe-are-store-bought-mushrooms/647140.md?page=3)