Deadly morel mushroom outbreak highlights big gaps in fungi knowledge
Deadly morel mushroom outbreak highlights big gaps in fungi knowledge
Prized morels are unpredictably and puzzlingly deadly, outbreak report shows.
On Thursday, Montana health officials published an outbreak analysis of poisonings linked to the honeycombed fungi in March and April of last year. The outbreak sickened 51 people who ate at the same restaurant, sending four to the emergency department. Three were hospitalized and two died. Though the health officials didn't name the restaurant in their report, state and local health departments at the time identified it as Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman. The report is published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The author of this article seems to be as ignorant as the chefs behind this incident.
Morels are known to be toxic until cooked. I’m surprised there was no explicit mention of this in the article.
In general, the boilerplate advice is to never consume raw mushrooms, even from species known to be edible, unless they are explicitly known to be edible raw. Button mushrooms are the only one I can think of. It’s likely other species are edible raw too, but it’s better not to gamble if it’s unproven.
People preparing or consuming wild foods should make sure to do the proper research. That is the only safe way to practice foraging. Very sad that people died because of this.
"Morels are more likely to cause intestinal distress if eaten raw, although even raw, they can be tolerated by some people," the agency wrote. Morels should be cooked before eating, as cooking can destroy bacterial contaminants. "For that matter, all mushrooms, wild or cultivated, should be cooked to release their full nutritional value because chitin in their cell walls otherwise inhibits digestion," the USDA writes.
The article mentions multiple times that cooked mushrooms are safer than raw ones.
I was wondering about this when I read the article this morning, as I have never once heard of anyone who ate morels raw or even partially cooked. Is this some kind of new trend trying to follow the Japanese who eat puffer fish?
People preparing or consuming wild foods should make sure to do the proper research. That is the only safe way to practice foraging. Very sad that people died because of this.
You’re 100% right. For the record these mushrooms were cultivated; not wild, but also from China which introduces its own concerns.
I wouldn't even eat raw button mushrooms like you suggested.
In the best case, they can't be broken down by our bodies, so all the nutrients wander through us and get wasted.
In the worst case, the agaritine found in them, which easily gets destroyed by cooking btw, may get classified from suspectedly carcinogenic to carcinogenic.I’ve heard this but considering they are widely eaten without issue I’m not convinced it’s a real problem. Many foods contain carcinogens, but it’s the dose that makes the poison. Considering the history of raw consumption it would take research demonstrating a link to cancer outcomes to convince me they’re not safe.
That said, I think they taste much better cooked anyway.
Make I point out an elephant?
The morels were FROM CHINA.
Yeah, that's a major point. I was like, "oh fuck, Montana?!" I know there are lookalikes in Europe, but never heard of anyone wild harvesting around here getting poisoned.
Those are false morels in the pic. Everyone is confused all around here.Guess I'm confused too. They're just weird looking morels, but upon close inspection the stems do indeed connect at the base.
the toxic ones have red in the gills
We always soaked them in salt water over night before we fried them up.
I love grilled stuffed portobello mushrooms. I don't think I'll be eating raw mushrooms again. Overall I don't understand people's fascination with eating raw food anymore, it just doesn't seem like it's worth the risk for the benefit. I used to love sashimi and I used to eat sushi consistently, now I just don't really care for it and it's too expensive.
Mycophobic nonsense.
Mmm sushi.