29 April 2014

Three hospitalised with suspected Death Cap mushroom poisoning

| Canfan
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Three people are in Calvary Hospital with what is suspected to be Death Cap mushroom poisoning, according to an article in the Canberra Times. The three claim to have eaten mushrooms purchased at Woolworths Dickson just before Easter.

ACT Health isn’t giving much away, but has confirmed all three live in the same household. Woolworths are working with ACT health on the matter but at this stage there are no other reported incidents.

All three are stable.

ACT Health has advised people suffering stomachaches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (who purchased and ate mushrooms from Woolworths around 17 April) seek immediate medical help.

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Felix the Cat3:21 pm 29 Apr 14

Roundhead89 said :

Someone on 2UE and 2CC’s overnight show said that Death Cap poisoning and the mushrooms coming from the local supermarket was a recent storyline in Home and Away. Can anybody confirm this?

Yes it was sort of, but the mushrooms weren’t from the supermarket. The guy picked them and made some rissotos and was selling them at the diner where he worked and a couple of people ate them with one female character getting life threatning ill. Of course both people pulled through ok with no lasting effects.

Hypothetical: Maybe they all lived in a group house (Older group house; druggies, lefties and neer-do-wells) they went looking and scored some mushrooms in the nearby hills after a rain, they suffered badly for their lack of mycological knowledge and now they are trying to cash in on it after seeing it on Home and Away.

Tetranitrate said :

The story is complete BS, it’d be pretty much impossible to end up with deathcaps amid woolies mushrooms.

+1

Someone on 2UE and 2CC’s overnight show said that Death Cap poisoning and the mushrooms coming from the local supermarket was a recent storyline in Home and Away. Can anybody confirm this?

I just read the ABC article and the one on News.com.au. Very little difference if any in what was reported and how it was reported.

54-11 said :

Masquara said :

Embarassing beatup (broadcast nationally) by the ABC with its unprofessional standards. Old mushrooms that have gone off will make you feel pretty sick. Obvious cause, complete non-story.

Typical Masquara beatup. This was reported widely long before the ABC picked it up. It was even in the Chinese media before the ABC report went up (the Chinese community have an interest because of what happened a couple of years ago).

Masquara, go hang your head in shame.

Like I said, the ACT health officials were simply saying “chuck any mushrooms out that you’ve bought from Woollies” – no death caps anywhere in sight at Woollies or they would have been taking pains to collect them from consumers and analyse them. Of course the Chinese media are likely to sensationalise the story. The local ABC have no excuse – they only needed to phone the officials and clarify. Bad reporting.

Tetranitrate9:46 pm 27 Apr 14

thatsnotme said :

Mushrooms bought from Woolies, Coles, or any major supermarket are going to have been grown in a controlled environment. I’m thinking a large number of big dark sheds, whose only purpose is growing supermarket mushrooms. 100% death cap free.

It’s not just that, deathcaps have a symbiotic relationship with various European trees, which is why these poisonings tend to happen so much in Canberra and occasionally Melbourne. They can grow among pines as well but for the most part you’re not going to ‘accidentally’ have deathcaps grow in an environment where you’re aiming for another type of mushroom. You’re not even that likely to have deathcaps grow in open grass fields at the edge of Canberra.

The story is complete BS, it’d be pretty much impossible to end up with deathcaps amid woolies mushrooms.

I think it was pretty obvious from the beginning that Woollies was not involved, though obviously the authorities had to go through certain protocols. It would appear to me that the message about the toxicity of death caps is not getting through to certain ethnic groups who may not understand/read English.

Masquara said :

Embarassing beatup (broadcast nationally) by the ABC with its unprofessional standards. Old mushrooms that have gone off will make you feel pretty sick. Obvious cause, complete non-story.

Typical Masquara beatup. This was reported widely long before the ABC picked it up. It was even in the Chinese media before the ABC report went up (the Chinese community have an interest because of what happened a couple of years ago).

Masquara, go hang your head in shame.

I can hear the lawyers for Woolies sharpening their swords.

The local ABC media has turned suspected botulism poisoning into botchalism reporting.

Masquara said :

Masquara said :

Embarassing beatup (broadcast nationally) by the ABC with its unprofessional standards. Old mushrooms that have gone off will make you feel pretty sick. Obvious cause, complete non-story.

Even worse, ABC reporting on the news this morning, still in terms of “suspected deathcaps” while – at the same time and in the same item!!! – passing on the advice from the ACT Health authorities to simply dispose of any mushrooms bought at Woollies pre Easter (e.g., duh, if they’re that old they will have gone off and don’t eat ’em). If there was the faintest suspicion that these were toadstools or whatever, they would have been sending officers around to your house to collect those Woollies mushrooms and check them. In fact, Woollies would have sent managers around in a fit of freakout at how toadstools could conceivably gotten into the major, streamlined agribusiness processes employed in those old railway tunnels where the mushrooms are grown. Shockingly poor work by the local ABC. If they can’t get a simple shock story right – after the fact – what hope is there for considered, accurate reporting in other spheres?

The only embarrassing beat up around here is your manufactured outrage at the ABC. Smh.com.au, news.com.au, the ABC…they’re all reporting the same story, in the same way!

If you’re so determined to have a go at the ABC, surely you can find a better story to pick on.

Masquara said :

Embarassing beatup (broadcast nationally) by the ABC with its unprofessional standards. Old mushrooms that have gone off will make you feel pretty sick. Obvious cause, complete non-story.

Even worse, ABC reporting on the news this morning, still in terms of “suspected deathcaps” while – at the same time and in the same item!!! – passing on the advice from the ACT Health authorities to simply dispose of any mushrooms bought at Woollies pre Easter (e.g., duh, if they’re that old they will have gone off and don’t eat ’em). If there was the faintest suspicion that these were toadstools or whatever, they would have been sending officers around to your house to collect those Woollies mushrooms and check them. In fact, Woollies would have sent managers around in a fit of freakout at how toadstools could conceivably gotten into the major, streamlined agribusiness processes employed in those old railway tunnels where the mushrooms are grown. Shockingly poor work by the local ABC. If they can’t get a simple shock story right – after the fact – what hope is there for considered, accurate reporting in other spheres?

screaming banshee9:41 am 27 Apr 14

Abc are reporting on a media release issued by act health, as are many other news agencies. How does this make it an embarrassing beatup and unprofessional standards?

Would you prefer they spend taxpayer dollars staking out woolworths or going door to door looking for anyone else that bought mushrooms from Dickson?

Embarassing beatup (broadcast nationally) by the ABC with its unprofessional standards. Old mushrooms that have gone off will make you feel pretty sick. Obvious cause, complete non-story.

If it was woolies there’d be a 100 cases. Not 3 in the same house.

bd84 said :

Bought them from Woolies? Sounds like bulls%$t… Looking to try and make a quick buck or hide their own stupidity for picking and eating them themselves is more like it.

Unless someone else thought they were funny and spiked the mushrooms at woolies, but then death caps look nothing like those sold at Woolies.

Mushrooms bought from Woolies, Coles, or any major supermarket are going to have been grown in a controlled environment. I’m thinking a large number of big dark sheds, whose only purpose is growing supermarket mushrooms. 100% death cap free.

If these people have gone and picked their own mushrooms, screwed up and cooked up some death caps, before deciding that they’d try to make themselves look less stupid by blaming Woolworths…well, I hope Woolies lawyers nail them to the wall.

Bought them from Woolies? Sounds like bulls%$t… Looking to try and make a quick buck or hide their own stupidity for picking and eating them themselves is more like it.

Unless someone else thought they were funny and spiked the mushrooms at woolies, but then death caps look nothing like those sold at Woolies.

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