The mushrooms are both early and present in large quantities this year, and the reason is the favorable weather for the mushrooms, with both rain and heat.
As early as mid-July, several popular edible mushrooms could be found in the Swedish forests, and unfortunately so could also less good and above all poisonous mushrooms.
The mushrooms that the Poisons Information Center is most worried about are the same mushrooms that resulted in record-breaking poisonings – white fly agaric and toadstool.
Damage to the liver and kidneys
The white fly agaric contains the poison amatoxin, which causes severe stomach problems and, by extension, liver damage that can be life-threatening.
– It can be so serious that you either die or have to transplant the liver, says Peter Hultén.
Top poison ivy contains the poison orellanin and affects the kidneys, and symptoms can appear up to two weeks after eating it. The damage to the kidneys can become permanent, and the risk is lifelong dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Many poisonings early on
Despite the fact that many people have been infected in record time, it is not a record number of people.
– There are other seasons where we have had more cases of potentially life-threatening poisoning, but they have not come this early. They usually come from mid-August and above all in September and October.
If you suspect that you have ingested a poisonous mushroom, you can call 112 and ask for poison information. If you then have pictures of the mushroom you ate, you can send them to the Poison Information Centre.
– Then you get to us quickly. We can look at them ourselves or take help from experts who can identify the mushroom or rule out that it is one of the seriously toxic mushrooms, says Peter Hultén.
“Clean them thoroughly”
There are also several ways to avoid dangerous mushrooms.
– Pick the mushrooms one by one and clean them thoroughly. Funnel chanterelles and toadstools grow in the same environment, so if you pull them up with your fist, there is a risk that the poisonous mushrooms will follow, says Peter Hultén.
Advising against certain mushrooms can be difficult, as knowledge varies. As above mushroom pickers, there are completely different risks, because you can easily miss most mushrooms.
– Normally we say that you should never eat white mushrooms with white slices and brown mushrooms with brown slices. If you are above, you should preferably not eat any of these, because then you avoid the most poisonous mushrooms in any case.
At the same time, Peter Hulten emphasizes that poisoning only occurs with a large intake.
– It is when they are taken as a meal that they can cause serious and life-threatening injuries. If you accidentally ingest a little bit of flavor out in the woods or in the food, it doesn’t do anything.