Figures on poisoning: Several hundred severe mushroom poisonings per year
Caution is advised when collecting mushrooms. What looks like an edible mushroom can also be a poisonous one - it just looks similar. How many people poison themselves is not easy to determine.
In Germany, cases of mushroom poisoning are relatively rare, with around 280 to 680 hospitalizations per year over the past decade due to people eating toxic mushrooms. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment reports that there are zero to seven deaths per year from mushroom poisoning. However, the Gift Information Centre North in Göttingen recorded 10 to 24 severe cases and up to two deaths per year from 2022 to 2025.
If extrapolated nationwide, this could translate to 70 to nearly 170 severe cases and up to 14 deaths per year. Experts warn that some toxic mushrooms resemble edible ones, posing a risk even to experienced collectors, with children and older adults being particularly vulnerable.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
