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Mushie mystery deepens

Health authorities say there is no evidence three cases of death cap mushroom poisoning in Canberra are linked to Woolworths.

Two people are in Canberra hospitals, and a third is in a Sydney hospital, after eating the potentially deadly fungi.

The three victims from the same household claim they got sick after eating mushrooms bought from the Woolworths store at Dickson.

But ACT Health says a police investigation has found no evidence of a link with the supermarket, and the search is continuing for the source of the mushrooms.

Woolworths said in a statement there were no other similar reports of food poisoning but it took customer safety seriously and was working closely with ACT Health.

The company says its produce is subject to strict government controls and is regularly monitored.

Acting chief health officer Dr Rahil Appuhamy said mushroom poisoning could be fatal.

“Death cap mushrooms can be quite severe in some patients,” he said.

“They can start with symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, but they can progress on to liver failure and sometimes, unfortunately, death.”

Symptoms of poisoning generally appear between six and 24 hours after ingesting death cap mushrooms.

Two people died from death cap mushroom poisoning in Canberra in 2012.

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