How to identify poisonous mushrooms

On June 23rd, a 37-year-old man in Lang Son province suffered food poisoning after eating red mushrooms purchased from a market. Prior to this, several mushroom poisoning incidents had occurred in southern provinces, including two deaths in Tay Ninh province. The Food Safety Department ( Ministry of Health ) advises people to distinguish between different types of mushrooms, identify poisonous mushrooms, and use mushrooms from reliable sources to avoid poisoning.

According to the Food Safety Administration, poisonous mushrooms usually have a complete cap, gills, stem, ring, and volva. Four common poisonous mushrooms in Vietnam that can cause poisoning are the gray-brown notched cap mushroom, the white-capped poisonous mushroom, the white conical poisonous mushroom, and the white umbrella mushroom with green gills. The gray-brown notched cap mushroom has a conical or bell-shaped cap, 2-8 cm in diameter, with a pointed apex and yellow to brown filamentous threads radiating from the apex down to the edge of the cap. The white-capped poisonous mushroom has a white cap with a smooth, glossy surface; when young, the cap is round and egg-shaped, firmly attached to the stem. When mature, the cap is flat with a diameter of about 5-10 cm, and the edges may curl downwards when old.

The cone-shaped white poisonous mushroom closely resembles the white umbrella mushroom. The cap of the white poisonous mushroom is white, with a smooth, glossy surface. When young, it is round and egg-shaped, with the edges tightly attached to the stem. When mature, the cap is usually cone-shaped, with a diameter of about 4-10 cm. The green-gilled white umbrella mushroom, however, has a cap that is elongated hemispherical when young, pale yellow, with small light brown or light gray scales. When mature, the cap is umbrella-shaped or flattened, white, with a diameter of 5-15 cm. The surface of the cap has thin, dirty brown scales, which thicken towards the apex. The green-gilled white umbrella mushroom has lower toxicity than the three types above, mainly causing digestive disorders.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/cach-nhan-biet-nam-doc-625390.html