Hunters enjoy picking morel mushrooms (pictured) but beware of some that look similar
The Michigan Poison Control Center (PCC) is reporting an unusually high number of patients with severe illness after eating false morels - mushrooms that look like the real thing. These mushrooms contain the toxin gyromitrin, which is toxic to the liver.
The Grand Traverse County Health Department reports ten people in the state have been hospitalized from eating the wrong mushrooms. The number is up from zero cases in 2010. In 2009 the number of people hospitalized from eating the wrong mushrooms was 5.
Two types of false morels include the "beefsteak" and "early morel" varieties. "Beefsteaks" have wrinkled caps that are brain-like in appearance when mature. When immature, they may be smooth or saddle-shaped. They are never pitted or ridged. The stem may be narrow, pith-filled or one or two vertical chambers or hollow. The stem may also be think with many chambers as if the flesh were folded vertically. The "early or false morel" looks like the true morel, but unlike the true morel, it has a cap that hangs around the stem and is joined to the stem at the top of the cap. The entire fruiting body is a single hollow cavity.
Picture below: Beefsteak Mushroom Picture below: False Morel
Onset of illness is usually 6 to 48 hours after eating. Symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, muscle cramps, bloating and fatigue. Untreated, people may go on to develop confusion, delirium, seizures and coma. The gyromitrin toxin can lead to right side abdominal pain, hepatitis and jaundice within 48 hours. In serious cases, increased bruising and bleeding due to loss of blood clotting factors.
More information can be found HERE.
Some mushroom safety tips can be found by CLICKING HERE.
