Subject: Laetiporus sulphureus Poisoning: Request for examples

From: [email-masked] ("Simon Hope Incode")
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 16:50:27 GMT

Did you know that the commonly-eaten 'Chicken of the Wooods' (Laetiporus 
sulphureus) has been cited as the cause of several instances of food 
poisoning?
I wish to compile information on this subject to assess the frequency and 
extent of adverse reactions, which are currently poorly documented in the 
literature (IYSWIM).

Could anyone with knowledge/personal experience of this subject please 
e-mail me at  [email-masked]   with as many details as 
possible 
(eg. Symptoms, Host plant, How prepared, Amount eaten, Previous effects). 

I'll post a summary if there is sufficient response. Thanks in advance.

Shelley Evans, Gwent Fungus Group, UK.

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Worrall)
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 1995 16:04:14 -0800

> extent of adverse reactions, which are currently poorly documented in the 

In California, I once ate cooked Laetiporus sulphureus and
vomited frequently all evening.  People said perhaps it was
because I obtained it from Eucalyptus, which has high concentrations
of extractives in the heartwood.

Since then, in New York, I have eaten it from other trees with
no ill effect.

Jim Worrall

-- 
Jim Worrall
SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry
Syracuse NY 13210

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From: [email-masked] (Peter Mullin)
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 16:46:42 +1000

Regarding Laetiporus poisoning:
   It has been my experience that certain people are more sensitive to
whatever factors in this fungus cause gastric upset than others.  In cases
like this, trial-and-error is the only way to find out...
   Also, consuming older parts of the fruit body (which often happens when
people get "greedy") can result in episodes of vomiting and/or diarrhea. 
This is also the case with Grifola frondosa (Hen-of-the-woods) and
Polyporus squamosus (Dryad's saddle).  For best results, eat only
well-cooked, young, tender edges of the basidiocarp and only eat small
quantitites of the mushroom when trying it for the first time.
   It is remotely possible that some reports of poisoning ascribed to this
fungus may be due to eager collectors mistaking Omphalotus olearius (an
orange, **gilled** fungus which is poisonous) for Laetiporus, but most
people won't make this error.
   The host on which the fungus grows may also have an effect.  My own
experience here in the Northeast is similar to that of Dr. Worrall:  I
have experienced no ill effects from Laetiporus colected locally (usually
on oak or hemlock stumps).

   Peter.