Picking wild mushrooms in Poland is a not only a tradition but also a part of general income, as we export dried mushrooms abroad. To my knowledge, mushrooms are being checked by qualified people at the purchase/collection points. The poisoning takes place from time to time, as you may hear from the news, but it affects single families not big groups of people.

I have heard also, that in Scandinavian countries, like Finland people had stopped picking wild mushrooms since explosion in Chernobyl. People were informed that time about possible radioactivity of mushrooms, but this information needs to be verified.

Thank you, Magdalena. And what happens if somebody doesn't sell, only wants to eat the wild mushrooms at home? Is there any inspection available in Poland?

Those who decide pick up mushrooms for their own domestic needs usually have learnt correct identification from their parents, grandparents and so on, as the knowledge is passed from generation to generation therefore nobody would bother to double check what is inside the basket. If anybody feels that he/she may got something suspicious may of course go to a local purchase/collection point and ask. Besides above, in bookshops you may find thousands of guidelines how to identify mushrooms and avoid bitter if not fatal mistake. Some of mushroom pickers keep a pocket book with them, while going around the forest if they are not confident enough or they just focus on very few species which will not be accidentally mistaken with anything else.

Recently on the radio news, it was quite loud about food poisoning by a 4 year old girl. Her parents used to collect mushrooms for many years, and unfortunately this time they got one poisonous toadstool. Girl got a stomach ache the very next day and her state has worsen from hour to hour. She was kept is in pharmacological coma past week and two days ago doctors found a liver donor, as only organ transplantation can save her life. Fingers crossed, she will recover soon.

Toadstool? The most colourful of them all... Wait, you say local purchase/collection point? You go to the nearest mushroom trader and bother him with your bagful of fungus?

There are many species of toadstools. Some of them vary in colouring between greyish to greenish, or crème and yet they are edible and tasty. Yes, local purchase/collection point; but you would not go there with a bag full of mushrooms for a consultation...rather just very few to check.

More than 70 per cent of the black truffles produced in Australia come from the Southern Forests region of Western Australia. It’s no surprise then, that one of the country’s most prestigious truffle events is held at Manjimup every year in June.

In its third year, Truffle Kerfuffle drew thousands of visitors to the region on 22 June 2013. The event included a one-day festival highlighting regional food and wine, followed by an evening ‘Food Bowl’ gala dinner.

Hello, thanks! Black truffles of Manjimup and Australia in general come from truffle farm(s) purposefully vegetated with inoculated hazelnut and oak to produce truffles.

My question related to real wild mushrooms outside of agriculture.

Every year in Perth we have issues in the south west with authorities dealing with people harvesting so called "magic mushrooms". Here is a typical news report.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/police-step-up-magic-mushroom-patrols-in-donnybrook/story-e6frg14u-1226408297183

For others who pick edible wild mushrooms, our Department of Agriculture have issued a bit of a help guide.

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/hort/gn_recognising_edible_field_mushrooms_2011.pdf

Thank you for the interesting note and useful pdf!

Recent news paper "Dziennik Zachodni/Daily Western News" published photographs of the most commonly collected fungi:

edible (http://www.dziennikzachodni.pl/artykul/989544,jak-odroznic-grzyby-jadalne-od-trujacych-grzyby-jadalne-poradnik,2,7,id,t,sm,sg.html#czytaj_dalej)

and poisonous that are often mistaken with edible species (http://www.dziennikbaltycki.pl/artykul/165503,grzyby-jak-odroznic-jadalne-od-trujacych,4,id,t,sg.html#czytaj_dalej).

According to the general statistics several dozen of people die every year.

With respect to the government help, I found also a video (http://www.tvn24.pl/wideo/z-anteny/sanepid-o-tym-jak-odroznic-grzyby-jadalne-od-trujacych,439179.html?playlist_id=12799) where an officer from the SANEPID (sanitary-epidemiological station) explained how to distinguish edible from non-edible mushrooms (in Polish language only unfortunately).

An official National Sanitary-Epidemiological Station website is: http://www.gis.gov.pl/?go=news (English version has not been fully prepared yet). Polish version contains on the top left panel an article about picking wild mushrooms in general, and rules people should follow to avoid a mistake http://www.gis.gov.pl/?go=news&id=122 (you can use a Google translator).

In addition a video has been attached: http://grzybyjadalne.wordpress.com/ (title means: meet/know mushrooms-you will avoid poisoning).

There is a Swedish website where recommendations are given, thats all. Though most people who enjoys mushroom picking learn it from the parents. We have up to about 4 deaths/year due to mushroom poisoning, usually it is immigrated Swedes that dies from their own mistakes. When I go to the supermarket, I carefully examine every mushroom (Cantharellus tubaeformis) to avoid the lethal Cortinarius rubellus. Most supermarkets, if not all, buy their mushrooms from people picking them in forests, and they are only human and can do such mistake.

A mushrooming is very popular in the Czech Republic. We have Czech legislation - an Ordinance no. 475/2002 Coll. „An examination of knownledge of wild edible mushroom“. Persons who sell wild edible mushroom (put on the market) obtain a cercificate after succesful graduation of the strict examination.

Web address: Mushroom advice centre http://www.myko.cz/english/

You also need to watch out the quality of the edible species so that they are not putrid or rotten. The handling of mushrooms are often neglected. Much of complaints from customers regarding symptoms from the stomach are because the mushrooms were not fresh enough.