Wild mushrooms safe to eat, German radiation protection office says

Almost 40 years after the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in what was then the Soviet Union, now Ukraine, wild mushrooms can now largely be consumed again in normal quantities throughout Germany without hesitation, officials said on Friday.

According to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), it is still possible to find specimens with elevated levels of the radioactive isotope caesium-137 in some areas of southern Germany.

But because all other main foods are almost completely uncontaminated, eating mushrooms with caesium-137 occasionally only slightly increases the individual’s own radiation dose, the BfS said. The decisive factor is not the individual mushroom, but the total quantity.

The current BfS Mushroom Report shows which wild-growing mushroom species can have low and which can have higher radiation levels.

The most contaminated mushrooms between 2022 and 2024 were the hedgehog mushroom, the terracotta hedgehog mushroom and the ivory wax cap.

In some cases, the measured values exceeded 2,000 becquerels per kilogram of fresh mushrooms. For comparison, the limit for mushrooms on the market is 600 becquerels.

In contrast, prince mushrooms, the chestnut bolete and the giant polypore contained less than 5 becquerels of caesium-137 per kilogram of fresh mass.