This is a rather important topic since mycophagists have gathered mushrooms for thousands of years, and throughout the world, thousands of them inadvertently consume poisonous mushrooms every year. That is a question that nobody can answer. Regardless of the cause, as an observer of this phenomenon for over 25 years, it is obvious that when it comes to foraging for mushrooms, there are only two groups of people. Those that are mycophagist, who live for the next collecting trip in hopes of finding edible mushrooms, and mycophobes , who will cross the road and go out of their way to step on mushrooms. There does not seem to be a middle ground on this issue.
Problems arise because of the unsafe practices carried out by mycophagist.
There are approximately 10,000 species of mushrooms. Most are innocuous, with a few that are sought for their delicious flavor, some of which have even been cultivated. However, there are also a few that may be fatal when consumed and many others that will at least cause physical discomfort. The main cause of mushroom poisoning is the improper identification of mushrooms. As I already mentioned when we covered the Agaricales, there is no simple rule or test that will tell you whether a mushroom is edible or not.