Mushroom foraging safety
Never eat a wild mushroom without expert identification. This site and app cannot tell you that a mushroom is safe to eat.
If someone may have eaten a poisonous mushroom
- Call poison control right away. Do not wait for symptoms. Some deadly mushrooms cause no symptoms for many hours.
- In an emergency, or if the person is unconscious, having seizures, or struggling to breathe, call 911.
- Keep a sample of the mushroom, and any leftovers, for identification.
Poison control
United States
1-800-222-1222 (Poison Help line, free, 24 hours).
Canada
Canada has no single national number. Call 911 or your provincial poison centre. Some centres:
| Centre | Phone |
|---|---|
| Ontario Poison Centre (Ontario) | 1-800-268-9017 |
| Centre antipoison du Québec (Quebec) | 1-800-463-5060 |
| BC Drug and Poison Information Centre (British Columbia) | 1-800-567-8911 |
| Poison and Drug Information Service (Alberta, Northwest Territories) | 1-800-332-1414 |
| Saskatchewan Poison Centre (Saskatchewan) | 1-866-454-1212 |
| Manitoba Poison Centre (Manitoba) | 1-855-776-4766 |
| Nunavut Poison Centre (Nunavut) | 1-866-913-7897 |
| Atlantic Canada Poison Centre (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador) | 1-844-764-7669 |
For other provinces and territories, call 911 or your provincial poison centre.
Basic rules
- Identify to species with certainty, using more than one source and, ideally, an experienced local expert such as a mycological society.
- Never rely on an app, a photo, or an AI tool alone. Photo identification is unreliable for mushrooms.
- Learn the lookalikes before you learn the edible species. Several deadly mushrooms resemble edible ones.
- Ignore folk tests. Cooking, peeling, silver spoons, and animals eating a mushroom do not prove it is safe.
- Cook wild mushrooms thoroughly. Some are harmful when raw. Cooking does not make a poisonous mushroom safe.
- Try a small amount of any new species the first time, and keep a sample from each meal.
- Do not collect from polluted ground, such as roadsides, industrial sites, or sprayed lawns. Mushrooms can absorb contaminants.
- Leave old, wet, or decaying specimens. Pick only mushrooms in good condition.
Know the rules where you forage
Permits, limits, and bans on harvesting vary by country, state or province, and land manager. Check with the managing agency before you pick, and get permission on private land.
See also the disclaimer and terms of use.