Jew's Ear toxic to some?

[Stanleythecat]

Hi there

I spoke to a friend who forages this week and we were discussing a crop of Jew's Ear on some ash nearby. Asking whether he ate he he explained he had but aside from not really being much to write home about had a story to tell of europeans falling ill in China having eaten some there.

Basically it had some toxicity to some people, namely westerners who having eaten the fungus their white blood cell count dropped to dangerous levels.

I was wondering if this was something anybody else knew about and if it was true?

Leo

 

[xylaria]

I have never heard of anyone getting poisoned from it. I have looked last night and there is nothing published in anything scienctific (netbased) where it says it has negative effect on the immune system. Ear fungus is used in wild mushroom powder to bulk out the more expensive boletes in quite a few european products like packet soup. It also acts as natural thickener. EU are pretty unpleasant food police if there was any credible concern however slight, it would be banned as sweet woodruff and comfry have been.

There is A. polytrichi cause the blood to thin, but i don't think you get them in britain.