Do not pick, buy, or eat wild mushrooms; any “folk tricks” for identification are useless

No expense involved. The hard part is giving up a seasonal delicacy.

In 2025, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention investigated 828 mushroom-poisoning incidents, involving 2165 people, with 13 deaths. The fatality rate was 0.6%, meaning 0.6% of those poisoned died. From 2019 to 2024, there were 276 to 676 cases annually, with the fatality rate between 0.87% and 2.86%. In 2025 alone, 138 species of poisonous mushrooms were identified, among which 34 species were recorded for the first time domestically as causing poisoning. The science popularization from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention refuted folk identification methods point by point. Brightly colored ones are poisonous: False; whether they are poisonous or not is unrelated to color. Those eaten by insects or containing maggots are non-toxic: False; many highly poisonous mushrooms are also eaten by insects after maturing. Those that change color when boiled with silverware or garlic are poisonous: False; mushroom toxins do not contain sulfur, and silver needles turn black due to sulfur. High-temperature deep-frying can remove toxicity: Also unreliable. Its conclusion is that "currently there is no simple, easy, fast, and effective method to identify whether mushrooms are poisonous." The Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration's reminder in 2026 is that if discomfort occurs after accidental ingestion, "please seek medical attention immediately, do not attempt to treat it yourself," and keep the remaining mushrooms and food scraps to facilitate the doctor's identification of the toxin.

Mushroom Poisoning Outbreaks — China, 2025. China CDC Weekly (2026)：「In 2025, China CDC investigated 828 mushroom poisoning incidents across 27 provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs), affecting 2,165 individuals and causing 13 deaths - a case fatality rate of 0.6%, the lowest of the past six years. In total, 138 poisonous mushroom species were identified, including 34 newly recorded in poisoning incidents in China.」「From 2019 to 2024, the annual number of incidents ranged from 276 to 676, and the case fatality rate ranged from 0.87% to 2.86%.」https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2026.120；同刊 2024 年度报告 https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2025.106；中国疾病预防控制中心职业卫生所 尹萸、李海蛟 (2019). 防控蘑菇中毒，任重而道远：「方法4：虫食或生蛆的蘑菇无毒。错！」「方法6：与银器、大葱、大蒜、大米同煮可使其变色的蘑菇有毒。错！」「因此，目前没有简单易行、快速有效的识别蘑菇是否有毒的方法」. https://www.chinacdc.cn/jkkp/zyjk/zdzs/201908/t20190802_301109.html；北京市疾病预防控制中心 (2023). 远离毒蘑菇，不做「菇勇者」：「民间流传辨别毒蘑菇的方法，如看颜色和形状、看生长环境、用银器辨毒、看分泌物、看有无生蛆生虫等均不可靠」. https://www.bjcdc.org/cdcmodule/jkfw/yyyspjk/jkyf/swzdyf/2023/35518.shtml；北京市市场监督管理局 (2026). 关于防范误食野生蘑菇中毒的风险提示：「请立即就医，切勿自行处理，以免延误诊疗时机。妥善保存剩余野生蘑菇、食物残渣等样本」. https://scjgj.beijing.gov.cn/zwxx/scjgdt/202606/t20260625_4715961.html

If you suspect you have eaten the wrong thing, go to the hospital immediately; do not try to handle it yourself at home. Bring the remaining mushrooms, food scraps, or photos taken. Mushroom poisoning is divided into several types; only by identifying which type of mushroom it is can doctors provide targeted treatment. New species capable of poisoning humans are recorded every year, so the premise that "locals can recognize them clearly" itself does not hold up. Testing with silver needles, boiling with garlic, that they are non-toxic if eaten by insects, and that only brightly colored mushrooms are poisonous—none of these claims are valid. Wood ear mushrooms and silver ear mushrooms that have been soaked for too long, and wet rice noodles stored too long, are another type of poison; see item 48 (soaked wood ear mushrooms).