How to Identify Poisonous Edible Mushrooms and Prevent Poisoning

In summer, wild edible mushrooms appear in large numbers, and many poisonous mushrooms have morphological features similar to many edible mushrooms, causing people to eat them by mistake and be poisoned. At present, there are 40 known poisonous edible mushrooms in China, 30 of which can be fatal, and fewer than 20 are common. Every year, accidents of death caused by mistakenly eating poisonous edible mushrooms occur.

Methods for identifying wild edible mushrooms: First, wild edible mushrooms with strange shapes, bright colors, and spines or warts growing on the cap; those with both an annulus and a volva on the stipe are mostly poisonous; second, wild edible mushrooms with a foul odor, an extremely spicy or extremely bitter taste, and cloudy juice are mostly poisonous; third, those that insects do not bore into, that is, do not produce maggots, are mostly poisonous.

Symptoms of poisoning from poisonous edible mushrooms: There are many kinds of poisonous mushrooms, and the toxins they contain differ, so the poisoning symptoms also differ. Some produce one symptom; some produce mixed symptoms. After mistakenly eating them, within as short as 1~2 hours or as long as 1~2 days, there will be nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; some cry and laugh loudly, are manic and restless, or have numb or rigid limbs; some sweat heavily, salivate, shed tears, and have difficulty breathing; some develop yellowing of the whole body, bleeding, coma, and even death. After mistakenly eating them and being poisoned, rescue treatment should be carried out immediately on the spot, and the patient should be sent to a nearby medical unit as soon as possible. If possible, integrate traditional Chinese and Western medicine, promptly eliminate the toxin (induce vomiting, induce diarrhea), detoxify, supplement fluids, and provide symptomatic treatment.