Nandkumar M. Kamat
I had warned and predicted about accidental mushroom poisoning in this column several times in the past 25 years. When six members of a family from Mayem in Goa fell violently ill after consuming what they thought were local edible Roen Olmis purchased from the Bicholim market earlier this month, it was not just a health scare—it was a predictable tragedy. Local print and electronic media reported the incident, and yet there was no First Information Report, no questioning of the vendor, no seizure of leftover mushroom samples, and no toxicological testing. The Food and Drugs Administration, the Forest Department, the local police, and the Directorate of Health Services—each of which has a clear regulatory mandate—stood by as passive spectators.
What has become evident is a total collapse of governance around the harvesting, trade, and consumption of wild mushrooms in Goa—particularly those of the Termitomyces genus, locally known as Roen Olmi. These mushrooms, highly prized for their flavour and cultural value, also carry a grave risk: they have toxic lookalikes. In the absence of scientific identification and inspection protocols, the seasonal mushroom trade in Goa is becoming a public health hazard.
A few weeks ago, the Goa State Biodiversity Board issued an advisory warning against overharvesting and unregulated marketing of wild edible mushrooms. The advisory called for mandatory identification and inspection before sale, caution against plucking immature fruiting bodies which hinders spore dispersal and future regeneration, discouraging sales without certification especially by individuals with no mycological training, and community involvement in sustainable harvesting practices.
The tragic Mayem case has proven the Biodiversity Board right. What if the family consumed a Chlorophyllum molybdites, or a Lepiota species that mimics Termitomyces in shape and size but produces deadly toxins? What if Termitomyces mushrooms collected from termite mounds were later mixed with soil-encrusted poisonous species? The answers are locked in the untested, uneaten leftovers—if any were even preserved. Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Goa Food and Drugs Administration is empowered to inspect food products sold in markets for safety and hygiene, collect and test food samples especially when there is a report of poisoning, and prosecute vendors selling unsafe food under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011. In this case, there was a clear incident of suspected food poisoning. Yet, no action was taken to identify the species of mushrooms sold, trace the source of supply, warn the public about ongoing risks, or impose interim sales bans or issue protocols for identification. This inaction must be called out.
Although Termitomyces mushrooms grow wild, they do so symbiotically with termite mounds, which are often protected under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and subsequent biodiversity-related rules. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Goa Biological Diversity Rules, 2017 clearly mention that Local Biodiversity Management Committees have a duty to document and conserve biological resources, including fungi. Collection and sale of biological resources for commercial purposes require prior intimation and approval from the State Biodiversity Board. Extraction that leads to ecological degradation or threatens species survival can be restricted. Despite this, hundreds of mushroom sellers freely exploit forest patches, termite mounds, and biodiversity-rich lands for profit, often bypassing any ecological safeguards. Worse, some traders import mushrooms from neighbouring states, further muddling identification and increasing the risk of toxic misidentification.
The Directorate of Health Services and the Goa Medical College treated the Mayem victims promptly. But the public health response stopped there. In an era of foodborne disease surveillance, this is unacceptable. The health department should have issued a health bulletin warning the public to exercise caution in buying wild mushrooms, published safety guidelines and educational material to help differentiate Termitomyces from lookalikes, and initiated data collection on mushroom poisoning incidents across Primary Health Centres. Foodborne illness outbreaks are not just individual tragedies—they are sentinel events that signal systemic failure. Here, the signal was ignored.
The Goa Police, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, can file an FIR under Section 281 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance) and Section 357 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), especially if a person sold a potentially toxic item without disclosure and the sale led to serious health consequences. Yet no FIR was filed in this case. This implies either total indifference or pressure from local interests to avoid disrupting the mushroom trade. If such incidents are not investigated, it sends a dangerous message—that seasonal profiteering is more important than public safety. Goans love Roen Olmi. But Roen Olmi is not a species—it is a colloquial name applied to a variety of morphologically similar mushrooms. Only trained mycologists can distinguish between Termitomyces heimii, Termitomyces clypeatus, Termitomyces striatus, Termitomyces microcarpus, Termitomyces eurrhizus, etc and poisonous lookalikes such as Chlorophyllum molybdites (frequently misidentified as edible), Lepiota brunneoincarnata (deadly), and Amanita species (causes liver failure).
The assumption that all mushrooms from termite mounds are safe is scientifically untenable. Mushroom identification requires examination of spore print colour, gill attachment, cap and stipe features, microscopic analysis of basidiospores, and molecular phylogenetic placement if needed. No vendor performs any of these checks. And the untrained public, driven by nostalgia or culinary craving, is left to play Russian roulette with wild fungi.
With a handful of Termitomyces mushrooms fetching anywhere between Rs. 500 to Rs. 2000 per bundle, the temptation to adulterate, mislabel, or overharvest is immense. The season lasts only two to three months, and during this window, roadside sellers, unlicensed vendors and migrant workers from Jharkhand and Chattisgarh who collect Roen Olmi make windfall gains. This unregulated economic opportunity has attracted players with no ecological or health knowledge, disincentivised sustainable harvesting, and created zero accountability in case of poisoning or adulteration.
To prevent more families from being poisoned, the Government of Goa must act urgently. The FDA Goa must immediately issue inspection guidelines for wild mushrooms, mandate vendor registration and batch-wise sampling, and penalise the sale of unidentified mushrooms. The health department must create a mushroom poisoning response protocol for all PHCs, run mass awareness campaigns in local languages, and coordinate with the FDA on traceback investigations. The Forest and Biodiversity Departments must work with local Biodiversity Management Committees to regulate collection zones, permit harvesting only in designated areas, and ensure traditional harvesters undergo training. The police and legal authorities must investigate mushroom poisoning cases as offences under under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Section 281 and Section 357, create standard procedures for FIRs and evidence preservation, and encourage victims to come forward and report incidents. A Wild Mushroom Inspection Authority must be constituted comprising qualified mycologists, toxicologists, biochemists, FDA inspectors, local BMC members, and
forest officers.
Mushroom hunting may be tradition. But mushroom poisoning is trauma. Unless Goa treats wild mushrooms as a biological resource requiring regulation, not just a delicacy, this tragic roulette will continue—with lives at stake and no one held accountable.
I have talked to forensic science and toxicology expert Dr. Madhu Ghodkirekar and Dr. Zore at GMC for exploring the possibility of drafting a joint scientific research paper on the Mayem mushroom poisoning case. We wish the suffering patients complete recovery and I caution all Roen Olmi buyers in Goa to be vigilant about adulteration because from next week onwards huge crops would be marketed with possibility of unchecked adulteration.
