Australia - 3 dead after eating wild mushrooms, Leongatha, Victoria, Aug 2023 #3

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Baby baby Jane said:
So, since the Asian mushrooms were already DRIED, the they did not need to go in the food dehydrator which she dumped.

It’s the supermarket button mushrooms?
OR
Perhaps she is genius and the poison was in the drinks and she’s diverting attention to mushrooms, neither of which are poisonous.
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Could have dehydrated foraged mushrooms in the past or another speculation is dehydrator was used on some other (illegal) substance and she may have panicked in context of ex's accusations about being accused and losing her kids. Speculation and Moo
 
Just watching that video and some good points raised that there would be a slight difference in reactions to each individual person and age , fitness and so on would play a part.


But we can see she is definitely over weight and doesn’t look like a gym bunny and she isn’t exactly young so it shouldn’t make that much of a difference if she had ingested the same meal as her other guests.



Mooo
 
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Puzzles said:
SBBM.

Great post, jjeroche, and yes, I agree with all your thoughts.

Decades ago, I attended a four-day course on wild mushrooms.

The leader was an esteemed mycologist whose name I've forgotten and to whom the stomach contents from victims of fungi poisoning were sent for identification from all over the world — he had long, pointy ears and the quizzical face of a gnome. When I first saw Yoda the following year, I thought that's the mushroom man!

He took us out to forage and cooked us a fabulous meal consisting of an appetizer, main dish, and dessert using only eggs, pasta, nuts, honey, wine, herbs, spices, and countless varieties of mushrooms.

He repeatedly warned us that every edible mushroom has an almost identical toxic counterpart, indistinguishable by most people. He showed us some examples in the forest to drive home his message.

He discouraged us from foraging, saying that to avoid being poisoned, one had to be either professionally trained in mushroom identification or very lucky.

For this reason, I've never again picked wild mushrooms.

And for this reason, if the evidence proves that EP's guests died from ingesting toxic mushrooms, I can't stand with those who already appear confident she poisoned them intentionally.
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As I understand it, in Victoria there are active and extensive public education campaigns about this particular toxic mushroom. That makes it VERY unlikely this mistake could be made IMO. Folks would be taking the course many posters here say they would take: because of the risk of getting confused and making a fatal mistake, they wouldn't forage mushrooms. Given the warnings, it would take a lot to convince most people that foraged mushrooms were safe: too easy to make a mistake.

So, IMO, in that context, serving toxic mushrooms at a fancy luncheon is a very unlikely error.
 
IMO the most telling aspect of the case is that the Department of Health or whichever authority oversees food safety has declined to institute a mushroom recall.

In the last thread (I think) a member posted a recall notice of produce due to the “use by” date being mislabeled. In that article the concern was possible listeria contamination. Note that no one actually got sick, it was merely caution.

Now here we have a situation where four people became ill, three died and all had symptoms of death cap poisoning yet no recall or even warning about store bought mushrooms was announced.

It suggests that the Department of Health, LE or both are satisfied that neither the supermarket nor the Asian market is the source of suspicious mushrooms. What does that leave? Either they’re both wrong (which is possible) or the death caps came from a different source, one that poses no danger to the public.

Hopefully the case will become clearer once the autopsies and toxicology are complete and we have a definitive COD.
All MOO
 
MsMarple said:
IMO the most telling aspect of the case is that the Department of Health or whichever authority oversees food safety has declined to institute a mushroom recall.

In the last thread (I think) a member posted a recall notice of produce due to the “use by” date being mislabeled. In that article the concern was possible listeria contamination. Note that no one actually got sick, it was merely caution.

Now here we have a situation where four people became ill, three died and all had symptoms of death cap poisoning yet no recall or even warning about store bought mushrooms was announced.

It suggests that the Department of Health, LE or both are satisfied that neither the supermarket nor the Asian market is the source of suspicious mushrooms. What does that leave? Either they’re both wrong (which is possible) or the death caps came from a different source, one that poses no danger to the public.

Hopefully the case will become clearer once the autopsies and toxicology are complete and we have a definitive COD.
All MOO
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I totally agree, especially when, in the absence of recalls, the public have been warned about the dangers of picking wild mushrooms….though I am not sure if there have been any official health department warnings about foraging, certainly there have been cautionary tales in the mainstream media.
 
Oona said:
I totally agree, especially when, in the absence of recalls, the public have been warned about the dangers of picking wild mushrooms….though I am not sure if there have been any official health department warnings about foraging, certainly there have been cautionary tales in the mainstream media.
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There was at least one official warning in Australia in April 2023:

With a cooler, wetter summer and more rain expected soon, South Australia will start to see the ideal growing conditions for wild mushrooms in areas such as parks, back yards in mulch or compost, roadsides, farm paddocks, nature reserves and forests across the State.

This includes reports of the Death Cap mushrooms – Amanita Phalloides – which are extremely poisonous and must not be eaten. Fatal Death cap mushrooms are extremely difficult to distinguish from other wild mushrooms and can resemble edible species.

Wild mushrooms can pop up quickly and may look inviting to touch and eat but ingesting them can cause serious illness or death.

This is why it is important to not eat wild mushrooms, to keep a close eye on curious children, as well as pets especially when outside.

Wild mushrooms warning | SA Health

South Australians planning to spend time outdoors over the Easter weekend are being reminded of the risks associated with foraging wild mushrooms.
www.sahealth.sa.gov.au www.sahealth.sa.gov.au
 
Oona said:
I totally agree, especially when, in the absence of recalls, the public have been warned about the dangers of picking wild mushrooms….though I am not sure if there have been any official health department warnings about foraging, certainly there have been cautionary tales in the mainstream media.
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Two VIC govt sites give warnings. Although I am not sure how many people actually read their govt health sites. But if MSM picked it up, it should have been in the media at that time.

Health advisory - April 2023

Poisonous mushrooms growing in Victoria

Poisonous mushrooms including Death Cap mushrooms and Yellow-staining mushrooms occur in Victoria during Autumn, as the weather becomes wetter and cooler.
www.health.vic.gov.au www.health.vic.gov.au

Safety alert - May 2023
 
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