Overview
- Poison centres logged 493 intoxications over the past 15 days, signaling a sharp early-season rise that triggered fresh warnings.
- Health authorities warn that ingestions can cause severe digestive distress, kidney complications and liver injury that may require transplantation, with symptoms often appearing within 12 hours.
- Officials urge foragers to pick only species they know perfectly, avoid potentially contaminated sites near roads or amended fields, cook harvests thoroughly and keep wild mushrooms away from children.
- Specialists recommend having baskets checked by pharmacists or mycological societies, while identification apps remain fallible, with even the best still making around 4% errors.
- Under French law, mushrooms belong to the landowner, unauthorized picking can bring a 135 € fine, and public forests generally tolerate up to five litres unless local rules state otherwise.