Be careful, these "mountain and sea delicacies" are attacking your summer vacation

Author: Li Haijie, School of Public Health, North China University of Technology

Reviewer: Yan Shengguang, Professor of School of Public Health, North China University of Technology

In the hot summer, "hot" has become the keyword for many places. Everyone can't wait to travel to escape the heat and experience different natural scenery, local customs, and special food. When you are intoxicated by the beautiful scenery and feasting on the food, you must be especially alert to some food traps to prevent these special "mountain and sea delicacies" from quietly attacking your summer vacation.

1. “Mountain delicacies” – wild mushrooms

Wild mushrooms are popular among people because of their delicious taste, high nutritional value, rich in protein, polysaccharides, β-carotene, and minerals such as iron, zinc and selenium, as well as various cooking methods. my country has rich wild mushroom resources, which are widely distributed in forests, grasslands, plains, roadsides and other places. Yunnan Province has the most species, and other provinces and cities also have local specialty varieties. At present, there are 936 species of mushrooms with edible value and 435 species of poisonous mushrooms in my country.

With the arrival of summer, the amount of rain increases, and all kinds of wild fungi and other plants enter a period of vigorous growth. People often see many wild mushrooms popping up in the suburbs and parks. Their white umbrellas and white stems look very "clean", but don't be fooled by their appearance - they may be highly poisonous mushrooms. There is no obvious difference between the appearance of poisonous mushrooms and edible mushrooms, and poisonous mushrooms are often mixed with non-toxic mushrooms. It is difficult to identify them with the naked eye, and it is very easy to pick them by mistake and eat them by mistake, and poisoning incidents occur from time to time. Mushrooms vary greatly in form. For non-professionals, it is impossible to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible mushrooms in terms of appearance, form, color, etc. There is no simple standard to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible mushrooms. Homes are the main place where poisonous mushroom poisoning occurs, and mistaken picking and eating is the main cause of poisonous mushroom poisoning. Therefore, you must not pick wild mushrooms on the roadside!

In my country, mushroom poisoning is clinically classified into seven types according to the target organs: gastroenteritis, acute liver damage, acute renal failure, neuropsychiatric, hemolytic, rhabdomyolysis, and photodermatitis. The incubation period of poisonous mushroom poisoning is relatively short, ranging from 1 to 24 hours, and sometimes only about 10 minutes. There is currently no specific treatment for poisonous mushroom poisoning, and the symptoms of poisoning are severe, the onset is rapid, and the mortality rate is high.

Here are five common mushroom identification myths:

Myth 1 : Only brightly colored mushrooms are poisonous, and light-colored mushrooms are not. Truth: It is not advisable to judge whether a mushroom is poisonous based on its color alone. Because many species of wild mushrooms such as boletus, russula, and chanterelles are brightly colored, but they are delicious edible mushrooms; the deadly Amanita phalloides dressed in white looks ordinary, but it is highly poisonous.

Myth 2 : Mushrooms eaten by insects are not poisonous. Truth: The physiological characteristics of humans and insects are very different. The same mushroom may be "honey to one and poison to another". For example, mature deadly Amanita phalloides are often eaten by insects.

Myth 3 : Poisonous mushrooms have a complex appearance, with scales, mucus, stipes and rings. Truth: Many poisonous mushrooms do not have unique morphological features and are plain in color. Ingestion can cause hemolysis and, in severe cases, death due to organ failure.

Myth 4 : High temperature cooking, frying, or sun drying can remove the toxins. Truth: The chemical structure of many poisonous mushroom toxins is quite stable, and general cooking methods or sun drying processes cannot remove the toxins.

Myth 5 : Mushrooms that grow in the dark, damp or on livestock manure are poisonous, while mushrooms that grow in clean places such as under pine trees are non-toxic. Truth: The toxicity of mushrooms has nothing to do with the growing environment. For example, the delicious Agaricus grows on sheep manure in the grassland, while the highly toxic Amanita phalloides grows mostly in relatively clean forest land.

Let’s take a look at what some common poisonous mushrooms look like!

1. Amanita phalloides

Figure 1 Reprinted with permission from the Copyright Office

2. Amanita muscaria

Figure 2 Reprinted with permission from the Copyright Office

3. Brown-scaled ring mushroom

Figure 3 Reprinted with permission from the Copyright Office

2. “Seafood” – pufferfish and shellfish

When people go on vacation to the seaside, they will definitely want to taste fresh seafood. Especially in recent years, as people have become more aware of the nutritional value of aquatic products, the proportion of aquatic products such as fish, shrimp, crab, and shellfish in the diet has increased year by year. However, food safety issues caused by aquatic products, especially food poisoning from aquatic products, are also increasingly attracting people's attention. From the perspective of the causes of aquatic product poisoning, there are mainly three types: ① aquatic product poisoning caused by natural toxins accumulated in aquatic products; ② aquatic product poisoning caused by the decomposition and metabolism of body tissue components; ③ aquatic product poisoning caused by corruption and deterioration. Among them, aquatic product poisoning caused by natural toxins is characterized by widespread and unpredictable characteristics, and therefore, it poses a great threat to aquatic product safety.

At present, the most harmful natural toxins are tetrodotoxin, paralytic shellfish poisoning and ciguatera toxin. Tetrodotoxin is an alkaloid contained in pufferfish (commonly known as pufferfish) and other organisms. It is one of the most toxic neurotoxins found in nature, and its highest content is found in the ovaries, liver and intestines of pufferfish. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is a neurotoxin. After filter-feeding shellfish ingest toxic algae, the toxin is not excreted from the body and accumulates in the body. When people accidentally ingest it, paralytic poisoning occurs. Ciguatera toxin is a large molecular polyether neurotoxin that accumulates in the body of fish due to the large-scale ingestion of highly toxic algae.

The aquatic products that easily accumulate natural toxins include pufferfish (mainly containing tetrodotoxin), shellfish (mainly containing paralytic shellfish toxins and/or tetrodotoxin), deep-sea coral reef fish (mainly containing ciguatera toxins) and horseshoe crabs (mainly containing tetrodotoxin and/or paralytic shellfish toxins). Since the toxins contained in these aquatic products are highly toxic and cannot be distinguished by the naked eye from the appearance, texture, color, etc., once poisoned, the incubation period is short and there is no specific medicine, so vomiting should be induced immediately and medical treatment should be sought in time.

Let’s take a look at what pufferfish and shellfish look like!

1. Pufferfish

Figure 4 Reprinted with permission from the Copyright Office

2. Shellfish

Figure 5 Reprinted with permission from the Copyright Office

Whether it is "mountain delicacies" or "sea delicacies", in order for us to have a better food experience, we must abide by relevant regulations and not pick or salvage wild foods at will. Let us work together to maintain the bottom line of our food safety.

References:
【1】Peng Yixiang, Li Liping. Eat wild mushrooms with caution and stay away from poisonous mushrooms[J]. Life World, 2021(06): 42-45.
【2】Ma Linhong, Deng Xuan. Stay away from poisonous mushrooms (Part 1)[J]. Hunan Agriculture, 2019(08): 39.
【3】Shi Xiaojuan. Three nos for wild mushrooms[J]. China Food Industry, 2022(06): 96.
【4】Lin Huajuan, Chen Xiao, Lu Yao. Analysis of aquatic safety issues caused by natural toxins in Guangdong Province[J]. Marine Environmental Science, 2013, 32(3): 475-480.