How fatal lunch made mushrooms less palatable to Victorians: Melb festival planned to celebrate them

Australian Mushroom growers will hold their first festival in Melbourne to promote and celebrate the fungi, in the wake of the Leongatha death cap lunch that killed three people.

Australian Mushroom growers will hold and fund their first ever Melbourne festival to promote and celebrate the “fun fungi”, less than three months after the Leongatha death cap lunch that killed three people and left another fighting for life.

Marketing manager for the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) Kura Antonello on Thursday said the festival planned for October 14 and 15 had been in the pipeline for nearly two years, so was not a direct response to a sales dip following the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, after eating a mushroom dish served by Leongatha woman Erin Patterson in late-July.

Victorians have been reassured supermarket mushrooms are completely safe.

Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson suffered organ failure after the mushroom lunch.

However, the event was well-timed and would now likely be used as an opportunity to improve the image of mushrooms following the tragedy and clear up any misconceptions around the safety of supermarket mushies, Ms Antonello said.

Speakers would include the AMGA’s Georgia Beattie, who would likely discuss the impact of the Leongatha lunch on growers and the commercial mushroom industry, she said.

“Let’s be honest, an everyday person is going to see mushroom burgers now and say ‘oh my gosh’,” Ms Antonello said.

Ms Beattie said earlier this month mushroom sales had fallen sharply on the back of the fatal lunch.

The festival, at Queen Victoria Market, promises “a weekend full of fungi and fun at the Mushroom Festival”.

The brainchild of the AMGA and funded by mushroom growers and Hort Innovation, the festival will “feature the mighty mushroom in all its forms”.

“Browse the mushroom marketplace and celebrate the talent of local growers or treat yourself to the tantalising offerings of mushroom alley including mushroom pizzas, burgers, desserts, drinks and more,” an ad for the event spruiks.

“During this event, the market’s main stage will offer a full program of live cooking demonstrations featuring local chefs and guest speakers.”

The festival will be held at Queen Victoria Market. Picture: Luis Ascui

AMGA general manager Leah Bramich said the event would be “a celebration of fresh Australian mushrooms, produce, growers and community”.

“We are lucky to have the highest quality, delicious mushrooms grown by experienced mushroom growers. We also have a very passionate mushroom-loving community,” Ms Bramich said.

“The Australian Mushroom Festival will be a chance to come together and celebrate fresh mushrooms — from tasty treats and cooking demonstrations to mushroom-themed accessories and more. This mouth-watering event will delight foodies and mushroom enthusiasts of all ages with something for everyone”.

Ms Beattie, who is also head of Australia’s largest organic mushroom farm Bulla Park in Diggers Rest, was recently reported as saying supermarkets had told mushroom farmers that sales had fallen by up to 10 per cent in recent weeks, as consumers avoided the vegetable over fears of supply chain contamination.

Bulla Park chief Georgia Beattie with her mushrooms. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Ms Beattie has reassured Victorians it is “actually impossible” for a death cap mushroom to end up in the button mushroom supermarket supply chain, and consumers are completely safe buying and eating mushies off supermarket shelves.

Bulla Park supplies Coles, Woolworths and Costco stores, as well as independent grocers, nationally.

Mushroom foragers are also now increasingly wary following the mushroom death lunch.

While over now, this year’s mushroom foraging season in Victoria was reportedly one of the most bountiful and longest, thanks to favourable weather conditions.

It’s understood the mushrooms served up by Ms Patterson to her guests were likely deadly death caps.

Ms Patterson has steadfastly denied intentionally poisoning her lunch guests.

Erin Patterson served the deadly mushroom lunch. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig.

The Mt Macedon Mushroom Foraging group — that runs foraging tours — posted on social media in June “this season has been fantastic”, and noted it wasn’t over at that point.

Other foraging groups said the pastime had “absolutely skyrocketed” in Victoria since Covid lockdowns lifted.

According to foraging group The Urban Nanna, “wild mushrooms (have) become quite the thing these past few years, with more and more foraging tours, identification groups and recipe crazes popping up each year”.

Its website goes on warn, however, that only “a minute portion” of Australia’s many varieties of wild mushrooms have been assessed as safely edible, with the death cap mushroom responsible for 90 per cent of mushroom-related deaths worldwide.

“Once you understand that mushroom foraging can be risky, and you realise that you’ll need to learn a fair bit before cooking up a storm, you’ll want to get your hands on some reputable reference texts," it advises.