As Norway enters the 2025 mushroom season, the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) is urging the public to take extra precautions to avoid potentially deadly mushroom poisoning.
In 2024, at least seven people were confirmed or suspected of being poisoned by the deadly webcap (spiss giftslørsopp).
READ MORE: Eight poisonous mushrooms to avoid when foraging in Norway
The danger lies in misidentification. Edible varieties like chanterelle and funnel chanterelle often grow near the poisonous webcap.
“These mushrooms look quite different, but if you know little about mushrooms, you can still be wrong,” Charlotte Rosenberg Ulstad, senior advisor and mushroom expert at the Norwegian Poisons Information Centre, said.
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The FHI recommended that people take mushroom identification courses or use expert services when in doubt.
If you suspect that you or a child may have eaten a poisonous mushroom, ring the helpline at the Norwegian Poisons Information Centre on +4722591300, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The centre has also produced a helpful brochure in English listing all main poisonous mushrooms to avoid in Norway.
For many foreigners (at least those who don’t come from similarly fungally-fixated nations), the rules of picking mushrooms can all seem overwhelming, meaning they miss out on one of the great joys of living in Norway.
For a start to know when to go out, study the weather.
If there’s been a heavy downpour, that will get the mushrooms growing, with ceps showing up 3-10 days after a heavy downpour and chanterelles taking two to three weeks.
But for more expert advice The Local spoke to Patrik Björck, co-founder of the Svamp-Klapp, the biggest Facebook mushroom forum in Scandinavia, about how to get started.
READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about picking mushrooms in Norway