127 types of wild mushrooms on display. Each one is marked by signs. (in Chikuma city, Nagano Prefecture)
As the peak season for mushroom hunting started in Japan, the number of reports on mushroom poisoning is on rise. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of October 3 this year, 17 people became ill after mistakenly eating poisonous mushrooms. During the past ten years, approximately 1,500 people were reported to have suffered from the mushroom poisoning. Five among them died.
On October 4, the food hygiene association of Nagano Prefecture started a display of 127 types of wild mushrooms in the farmers’ market of JA Nagano, an agricultural cooperative headquartered in Nagano Prefecture, as one of its initiatives to prevent wild mushroom poisoning.
The mushrooms on display were brought by mushroom specialists who are officially commissioned to help residents and the prefecture to distinguish the safe ones from dangerous one.
Each mushroom was marked by signs such as “Edible”, “Edible only when it’s young”, “Not suitable for eating (as it’s too bitter or too hot)” and “Toxic”.