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Can French pharmacists advise on edible/poisonous mushrooms?
Learned something new, and it's not yet 8:00 AM!
https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Health/Can-French-pharmacists-advise-on-edible-poisonous-mushrooms
Can French pharmacists advise on edible/poisonous mushrooms?
A reader question on French mushrooms is answered in The Connexion October edition.
16 October 2020 09:00
By Liv Rowland
Question:
Is it true that pharmacists in France are trained to know which wild mushrooms are safe to eat and which are poisonous? T.J.
Answer:
In theory, yes, and the service is free. In practice, not all are equally competent. There are 35,000 kinds of mushroom in France and no pharmacist will know them all. However, all pharmacists should, in theory at least, be familiar with those that grow in their area and that are dangerous.
The time given over to teaching the topic is said to have been reducing in many university pharmacy courses. Also, for some pharmacists, their university days may be long ago and they may not have kept up their interest in the topic. Local mushroom societies (sociétés mycologiques) organise training sessions but on a voluntary basis.
Not surprisingly, pharmacists in rural areas tend to be better-informed than city ones as they are likely to be asked about the subject more regularly. Jean-Claude Verpeau, of the Société Mycologique de la Côte d’Or in Burgundy, said: “It’s a problem – recognising mushrooms is a difficult science and most pharmacists are not really very expert, apart from a few pharmaciens mycologues [with a special interest in it]. In theory, though, yes, if you bring them a basket of mushrooms, they should be able to remove from it the most toxic kinds. For some other kinds they might say ‘if I were you, I wouldn’t eat it’. They can’t refuse to have a look.”
[...]
A reader question on French mushrooms is answered in The Connexion October edition.
16 October 2020 09:00
By Liv Rowland
Question:
Is it true that pharmacists in France are trained to know which wild mushrooms are safe to eat and which are poisonous? T.J.
Answer:
In theory, yes, and the service is free. In practice, not all are equally competent. There are 35,000 kinds of mushroom in France and no pharmacist will know them all. However, all pharmacists should, in theory at least, be familiar with those that grow in their area and that are dangerous.
The time given over to teaching the topic is said to have been reducing in many university pharmacy courses. Also, for some pharmacists, their university days may be long ago and they may not have kept up their interest in the topic. Local mushroom societies (sociétés mycologiques) organise training sessions but on a voluntary basis.
Not surprisingly, pharmacists in rural areas tend to be better-informed than city ones as they are likely to be asked about the subject more regularly. Jean-Claude Verpeau, of the Société Mycologique de la Côte d’Or in Burgundy, said: “It’s a problem – recognising mushrooms is a difficult science and most pharmacists are not really very expert, apart from a few pharmaciens mycologues [with a special interest in it]. In theory, though, yes, if you bring them a basket of mushrooms, they should be able to remove from it the most toxic kinds. For some other kinds they might say ‘if I were you, I wouldn’t eat it’. They can’t refuse to have a look.”
[...]
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