Six people were hospitalized due to mushroom poisoning in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

      October 13, 2025 11:55 Society

      Since the beginning of 2025, six people in the Nizhny Novgorod region have been hospitalized after mushroom poisoning, the regional Rospotrebnadzor reported. They all gathered and prepared the mushrooms themselves. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

      Experts warn that even if you are sure you picked edible mushrooms, that is not a guarantee of safety. Incorrect handling, storage or preparation can lead to serious problems. Children and people with weakened health, in particular, suffer more severely from mushroom poisoning.

      Children, for example, do not yet have the necessary enzymes to digest mushroom fiber. Therefore even the most harmless mushroom can cause serious stomach problems for them. To prevent this, it is better to inspect places where children play in advance. Even an ordinary yard or park can turn out to be “mushroomy.” And, of course, do not leave young children unattended, especially during the height of the season.

      Mushrooms are difficult to digest even for adults. They contain chitin — a substance that is not broken down by digestive enzymes and interferes with the absorption of other nutrients. Therefore mushroom dishes are suitable only for healthy people who have no stomach or intestinal problems.

      If you go mushroom picking yourself, be careful. Mushrooms should be collected away from roads and industrial sites, in ecologically clean areas. It is best to use a woven basket for collecting — mushrooms can “breathe” in it and stay fresh longer.

      Collect only well-known species and always with an intact stem — this helps identify the mushroom more accurately. The harvest brought home should be sorted the same day: throw away worm-eaten, flabby, overgrown and suspicious specimens. Cook mushrooms immediately, not postponing until the next day, and preferably cook each species separately.

      Do not collect mushrooms in plastic bags or buckets, as they spoil quickly in them. Do not taste mushrooms in the forest. And certainly do not pickle them in galvanized or glazed cookware, as this can lead to the formation of dangerous compounds. Storing fresh mushrooms in warmth is also inadvisable — they are a perishable product.

      If you do not pick mushrooms yourself but buy them, be especially careful. Do not buy salted, dried or pickled mushrooms from private sellers, especially in homemade jars without labels. In stores, pay attention to the packaging: it should be clean, intact and contain full product information. If the packaging is damaged, dirty or unlabelled, it is better to refuse the purchase.

      When preserving mushrooms, it is important to remember: without preliminary processing you can only cook porcini (Boletus edulis), true milkcaps and saffron milkcaps. All others must be cleaned, washed, soaked or boiled. The resulting broth must be discarded, as it contains harmful substances. Only after this can the mushrooms be used for food.

      Earlier, a biologist told Nizhny Novgorod residents about the most mushroom-rich areas of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

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