Commercially grown mushrooms are safe to eat, Australian growers have reassured after three Victorians died from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning.
Couple Gail and Don Patterson, both aged 70, and Mrs Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital after eating lunch at a Leongatha home in Victoria’s southeast on July 29.
Ms Wilkinson’s husband, Baptist church pastor Ian Wilkinson, remains in Melbourne’s Alfred hospital in a critical but stable condition.
Police believe their symptoms are consistent with being poisoned by death cap mushrooms.
Detectives consider the Pattersons’ daughter-in-law Erin Patterson a suspect as she cooked the lunch that is believed to have led to the deaths.
In a statement to police, Ms Patterson claimed she made a beef wellington using button mushrooms from a major supermarket and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store.
But commercially grown mushrooms bought at trusted Australian retailers are safe to eat, the Australian Mushroom Growers Association said.
It was impossible for death cap mushrooms and other dangerous varieties to be grown in commercial operations.
“This fungus (death caps) only grow in the wild,” the association said in a statement.
“Commercial mushrooms are grown indoors in environmentally controlled rooms with strict hygiene protocols and food safety standards.
“The only mushrooms you can be sure are safe are fresh, Australian-grown mushrooms bought from a trusted retailer.”
The Victorian health department is required to act if there is a food safety incident.
There have been no ordered recalls of mushroom products in the state since the suspected poisonings.
Victoria Police have not commented on Ms Patterson’s statement, nor provided any updates on their investigation.
