Poisoned Mushrooms Accidentally Kill 2 in Australia

January 8, 2012

A chef in Canberra, Australia stopped and picked some wild mushrooms in preparation for a New Year's Eve meal. Unfortunately, those mushrooms ended up being the highly toxic death cap mushrooms. Two people, including the chef, later died from liver failure after eating the New Year's Eve meal. 

Liu Jun, 38, and Tsou Hsiang, 52, passed away from the poisoning. The meal was intended as a private meal and there was never any risk of public exposure. A sign at the Chinese Bistro, the restaurant where the fatal meal was prepared, expressed condolences ''to the family and friends of our colleagues who died recently after an unfortunate event of eating death cap mushrooms at a private meal.''

Friends suspect Liu Jun picked the mushrooms on his back from work and mistook them for edible straw mushrooms. 

Another high profile poisoning saw a Chinese billionaire die after eating cat stew earlier this week. 

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