Consumption of death cap mushrooms — often mistaken for safe, edible lookalikes — has been linked to a deadly outbreak in California.
The mushrooms, officially called Amanita phalloides, contain toxins that can cause amatoxin poisoning, which can lead to severe illness or even death.
In the California cases, the poisonings caused severe liver damage in both children and adults, resulting in three deaths, three liver transplants and 35 hospitalizations as of Jan. 6, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
The CDPH warned the outbreak was linked to consumption of “wild, foraged mushrooms” and urged Californians not to pick or eat wild mushrooms at this time.
The officials stated in a report that death cap mushrooms are “still poisonous even after cooking, boiling, freezing or drying.”