Is it safe to eat raw mushrooms?

[mimi14]

DD loves mushrooms in a salad, but only likes them raw. I've never really thought about it, but a friend said today that they shouldn't be eaten raw due to toxins?? Have I been unwittingly poisoning DD for years?? 😳

I have eaten raw mushrooms in salads for years without any ill effects, so it wouldn't bother me.

Since i was a child secluded sliced raw mushrooms were a salad ingredient. Doesn't mean they aren't bad, but if they are they aren't a quick poison!

Secluded? !

I've been eating them raw in vinaigrette for many years and never had a problem.
Well, I've had plenty of problems but none of them were caused by eating raw mushrooms.

Oh, I love them raw but don't eat them often enough to notice any ill effects.

Yes, of course. What toxins was your friend thinking of?

My DD has had raw mushrooms as a snack on the way home from the supermarket since she was 6 months old. I suspect your DD will be fine!

I love raw mushrooms & have eaten them for years without any ill effects.

Raw mushrooms contain agaritine which was shown to be a carcinogen in mice. It's not heat stable so cooking deactivates it. However I don't think there have been any human studies suggesting a link and any risk is likely to be small.

Is she thinking foraged ones, rather than those purchased in the supermarket?

I think your friend is right.

I love raw mushrooms, but stopped eating them after reading that they contain small amounts of cancer causing toxins. Won't obviously kill straight away, but still not very healthy if eaten on a regular basis.

I seem to recall that there was some controversy about the likely level of toxins in home stored mushrooms though. I think the argument was that most people keep mushrooms in the fridge and low temperatures kill most if not all of the dangerous stuff.

On the other hand, it is supposed to be good to leave the mushrooms exposed to sunlight (e.g. on the windowsill) for a few hours before eating them to increase their vitamin D content.

Can't remember where I read this though because it was a couple years ago.

Erm, no. Just looked it up. Even eating 10g of mushrooms every day wouldn't increase your risk of cancer - and that risk is based on speculative evidence no one has yet really worked on.

I think unless you are chowing down on a half-pack of raw mushrooms each day, you're probably ok.

Agaritine occurs in mushrooms of the agaricus genus. We don't eat those.

This is madness. Its a mushroom. Food.

Well, elderberries and kidney beans are food and you still can't eat them raw.

I love raw mushrooms.

I remember the story though of the author (Nicholas Evans?) who poisoned all his guests with wild mushrooms

I'm 46 been eating raw mushrooms my whole life with no ill effects, I'll happily eat a punnet as a snack.

Almost everything is carcinogenic at some level, even toast!

There's no real evidence that raw mushrooms are dangerous

It's one of those "Causes 1% rise in cancer in rat studies" where it would be the equivalent of 10Kg/day when scaled to a human.

Normal supermarket mushrooms are as safe to eat raw as cooked.

In a similar vein, unsafe mushrooms are not made safer by cooking so don't go wild mushrooming unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Ooh, I want a slice of butter-fried puffball now.

Thanks for the replies. She eats a couple of mushrooms a week so I think we're safe

I, on the other hand, can't stand the slimy buggers raw or cooked 😂.

I don't know but omg why would you want to?!? 😷🤢😷🤢😷🤢😷🤢😷🤢

There are some that if eaten uncooked are poisonous & others that are just poisonous - they are not sold in a UK supermarket. So you should be OK if you haven't been foraging.

My mum was shocked I ate mushrooms when pregnant, I think it's really really old outdated advice that has no relevance unless you're talking about tripping out on magics you'll be just fine.

My go to snack... always eaten them raw (and cooked ..I love mushrooms!) I wouldn't go foraging in the fields for them as the nice ones look JUST the same as the deadly ones, but shop bought ones are fine. I'm 51 and have been eating them raw all my life. Still here :)

I never knew that people are mushrooms raw.

mushrooms are grown in compost, so on one level i can understand not eating them raw (dusted off or rinsed) but the white and crimini type available in the shops are totally safe to eat.
foraging in the wild for pine mushrooms if you don't know what your doing is dangerous and not for me.