Is it dangerous to eat raw white mushrooms?
Delicious in a fried egg, risotto and pasta with a creamy sauce, white mushrooms. Every now and then I pop one raw into my mouth. Because: delicious and impatient. But those raw white mushrooms—are they actually poisonous or not?
Mushrooms: you either find them irresistible or absolutely hate them. Their texture and earthy flavor really are unlike anything else. So if you like them so much that you sometimes snack on them raw, are you doing something harmless, or should you really avoid them from now on?
Edible mushrooms
White mushrooms are edible mushrooms. Some people conveniently classify them as vegetables, but technically they are fungi. The same applies to portobellos, cremini mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. In the Netherlands, we love white mushrooms. They are an ideal addition to countless dishes, from pasta to rice and from omelets to stews. White mushrooms are healthy: they contain lots of minerals and fiber. And they taste good too.
Be careful
Some mushrooms are so poisonous that they should never be eaten under any circumstances. If you don’t know anything about mushrooms, you should therefore also never pick them in the forest and eat them as they are. (Not even if you do know a lot about them but are unsure, by the way.) The white mushroom is safe to eat, provided it is cleaned and cooked.
Agaritine
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre advises against eating white mushrooms raw. This is because of a substance called agaritine. Agaritine is potentially carcinogenic. One study found that mice given the substance eventually developed tumors. Experts infer from this that the substance could also have that effect on humans in larger quantities. But there is another side to the story. Not every mouse study reached this conclusion, and the study has never been conducted on humans. Still, the possible toxicity of white mushrooms is enough reason for the Netherlands Nutrition Centre to advise against eating them raw.
Cleaning and cooking
Cooking them is a better option. Heat breaks down the agaritine, making it 100% safe to eat the mushrooms. Always make sure to clean them thoroughly before cooking them. Mushrooms are grown in a kind of mixture of horse and chicken manure, which also contains lime and straw. This can be a source of bacteria. You can clean them with a brush, but did you know that it’s also perfectly fine to rinse them briefly under the tap? Mushrooms already consist of 80 to 90 percent water, so they can’t absorb that much more water. Now you know.
Also read:
- Mushrooms with extra vitamin D: nonsense or brilliant?
- The tip for crispy, truly delicious mushrooms
- Recipe for a Spanish tortilla with Serrano ham and mushrooms
Source: Het Voedingscentrum and BNNVARA
