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Californians Warned Not to Eat Wild Mushrooms After Poisonings
At least 21 people poisoned by amatoxin in death cap mushrooms, causing severe liver damage and one death, health officials urge avoiding foraging wild mushrooms.
- On Dec. 8, 2025, California health officials warned that at least 21 people were poisoned by wild mushrooms, causing one death and severe liver damage, with one patient possibly needing a transplant.
- State poison-control data linked the illnesses to amatoxin found in death cap mushrooms, which grow widely in California near oak and pine hardwood areas and increase after rainy fall and winter weather.
- Symptoms usually begin within 24 hours with gastrointestinal symptoms , while amatoxin resistance to cooking/freezing means initial improvement can precede liver damage.
- Health officials recommend only eating mushrooms purchased from trusted grocery stores or commercial growers, as most cases recently involved children under age 6 in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay regions.
- Because death caps resemble edible species, misidentification is common; they are two to six inches tall with a yellow-ish green cap, and eating small amounts can cause liver and kidney failure amid about 7,400 annual toxic mushroom exposures .
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Total News Sources19
Leaning Left2Leaning Right3Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Center
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources are Center
45% Center
L 22%
C 45%
R 33%
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