How to identify poisonous mushrooms

On June 23, a 37-year-old man in Lang Son province was poisoned after eating red mushrooms bought at the market. Previously, many mushroom poisoning cases occurred in the southern provinces, including 2 deaths in Tay Ninh province. The Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) recommends that people distinguish between types of mushrooms, recognize poisonous mushrooms, and use mushrooms of clear origin to avoid poisoning.

According to the Food Safety Department, poisonous mushrooms usually have a cap, gills, stem, stem ring and base sheath. The four common types of poisonous mushrooms in Vietnam that can cause poisoning are the gray-brown ribbed cap mushroom, the white poisonous umbrella mushroom, the white poisonous cone-shaped mushroom and the white umbrella mushroom with a green gill. The gray-brown ribbed cap mushroom has a cone-shaped or bell-shaped cap, 2-8cm in diameter, a pointed tip, with yellow to brown filaments radiating from the top of the cap to the edge of the cap... The white poisonous umbrella mushroom has a white cap, a smooth cap surface, a round, egg-shaped head when young, and the cap is firmly attached to the stem. When mature, the cap is flat with a diameter of about 5-10cm, and when old, the cap edge can droop.

The white cone-shaped poisonous mushroom looks similar to the white umbrella mushroom. The white poisonous mushroom cap is white, has a smooth, shiny surface, and when young, the head is round and egg-shaped, with a curved edge tightly attached to the stem. When mature, the white poisonous mushroom cap is often conical, with a diameter of about 4-10cm. The green-bladed white umbrella mushroom has a long, hemispherical cap when young, light yellow, with small light brown or light gray scales. When mature, the mushroom cap is umbrella-shaped or flat, white, with a diameter of 5-15cm. On the surface of the mushroom cap are thin, dirty brown scales, the scales gradually thicken towards the top of the cap. The green-bladed white umbrella mushroom is less toxic than the three types above, mainly causing digestive disorders.

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