Mother and daughter, 12, poisoned and taken to hospital after eating garden mushrooms – World News

A woman felt dizzy and like she was ‘fading’ after eating mushrooms growing in her vegetable patch that tasted normal – only to find they were poisonous

A woman and her daughter, 12, have been hospitalized after eating poisonous home-grown mushrooms amid growing concerns over mushroom poisoning in Australia.

Alice Both said “white, button-like mushrooms” popped up in her vegetable patch and cooked them to eat with a meal. Ms Both said they “tasted good” – but it wasn’t until the next morning that she realized they were deadly.

“I was dizzy, I felt like I was fading at that point. I was very unwell, I had a fever,” Ms Both, from South Australia, told The Advertiser, describing her symptoms.

Luckily, her daughter had only eaten a few bites, so her symptoms were mild in comparison, but they both found themselves in the emergency room.

Ms Both said she was using an app to identify the fungus when she first noticed symptoms. However, Victoria’s Deputy Health Officer Angie Bone said it could be a mistake.

She said: “Eating just a single death cap can lead to liver failure and death. So unless you are an expert and are absolutely sure of the species of mushroom, do not pick or eat it.

“We heard from the Victorian Poisons Information Center that some recent poisonings have been linked to people using apps to try to tell the difference between an edible mushroom and a poisonous one.”

There have been 24 cases of wild mushroom poisoning in South Australia this year and of those, nine were hospitalised, including three children under five, according to Seven News.

And since April, according to the Australian Associated Press, 60 people have made mushroom-related calls to the Victoria Poisons Center and a further 24 calls in Adelaide since January.