My mom said the same thing to me a minute ago when I mentioned this headline. My parents are avid mushroom gatherers. Not every type of mushroom affects everyone the same way, a friend of theirs apparently ended up in hospital after eating the same kind of edible mushrooms my family ate for years, and it was thermally processed (cooked & pickled).
Chicken of the woods is where people get sick most often. They're super easy to identify and don't really have any dangerous look alikes, so people tend to start with them when they start gathering mushrooms.
They're delicious and the grow in huge quantities. So most people will eat a lot of them.
And most people are okay, but several have either allergies or a sensitivity to them. And they get violently sick.
Rule number one of wild gathered foods, regardless of what it is: eat just a little of it until you know it won't make you sick, even if it's 100% safe.
> Rule number one of wild gathered foods, regardless of what it is: eat just a little of it until you know it won't make you sick, even if it's 100% safe.
I don’t have the source at hand but I recall reading a few years ago that you should start by rubbing it on your skin, and if no reaction run it inside your lips, and if no reaction, chew it a bit and spit it out, and if no reaction then eat a very small amount, and only eat more after a significant period of time has passed, and then in small doses.
It seemed reasonable to me. Slowly increase the risk level.
