Skip to main content

Toronto parks are no place for foragers, city warns residents

Not long ago we learned from a long-time forager about his adventure through Toronto's parks. Here's a warning.
Foraging is fun, but it is also dangerous. Make yourself aware of the dangers, if you plan to indulge.
Picking a batch of mushrooms from one of Toronto’s parks could add an exotic accent to a steak dinner. Depending on the mushroom you pick, that dinner could also send you on a hallucinogenic spiral, throw you into a seizure, send your blood-pressure soaring, or worst-case scenario, put you on a short list for a liver transplant. And other supposedly-edibles that are found in the city’s ravines and forested areas aren’t much safer, according to Dr. Margaret Thompson, Medical Director at the Ontario Poison Centre. “We’ve had calls from patients who thought they were picking wild parsnips and ended up having seizures — patients who thought they were picking wild leeks who ended up with gastrointestinal problems,” said Thompson in an interview Friday, July 31.

Anyone with health concerns with eating mushrooms should call the Ontario Poison Centre at 416-813-5900.

Sources / More info: Toronto parks are no place for foragers, city warns residents
[tags: foraging, mushrooms, shrooms, wild, food, parks]

Comments

Popular Articles

Stabbing in Downsview and tow truck driver pandemonium

Police is investigating a stabbing in our area and tow truck drivers are protesting a new law.

Andrei Zodian for City Councillor!

We learned that our president and founder is considering running for office.

Tuesday night stabbing at Jane and Finch

The man discovered stabbed at Jane and Finch Tuesday night has not suffered life-threatening injuries.

Subscribe Now!

Subscribe in a reader, or by email:
Your email: