Mushroom Season: A cautionary tale from Washington Poison Center

It’s mushroom foraging season – a fun, but potentially risky activity! If you hunt mushrooms or eat wild mushrooms, you can never be too cautious, as this family experienced...

A mom went foraging with a friend who said he was very experienced. They were searching for matsutake (Tricholoma murrillianum) mushrooms. One mushroom was smaller than the rest, but they threw it into the soup anyway. The entire family ate the soup.

After a couple of hours, all four of them experienced profuse vomiting and diarrhea, so they gave us a call. We helped them out over the course of a couple days, until their symptoms finally resolved. We think they may have mistakenly foraged an Amanita Smithiana (Smith’s Amanita).

Stay mushroom-safe this season and download this mushroom safety tips sheet and keep it handy! 

If you think you've eaten a suspect mushroom, call us anytime at 1-800-222-1222.

Grab a photo of the offending fungi if there's still any hanging around

--Washington Poison Center