What is the Wild-Harvested Mushroom Certification?

Per Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 481-30, to legally sell eight different types of wild-harvested mushrooms in Iowa, sellers must complete a certification workshop that covers the identification and differentiation of these mushrooms from their look-alikes. The Administrative Code defines "certified wild-harvested mushroom identification expert" as follows: 

"An individual who has, within the last three years, successfully completed a wild-harvested mushroom identification training program provided by an accredited college, university, or state mycological society. The training program must include a component of actual identification of physical specimens or simulations of mushroom species. A document must be issued by an accredited college, accredited university, or state mycological society certifying the individual's successful completion of the wild-harvested mushroom identification training program and specifying the species of wild mushrooms the individual is qualified to identify."

People can be poisoned by eating misidentified mushrooms. By the end of the certification workshop, participants will be able to confidently identify the legally sold wild mushrooms in Iowa (listed in the table below) and differentiate them from common poisonous lookalikes.

Certificates are valid for three years from the date the workshop is completed. Registration is open to out-of-state individuals who hunt and sell in Iowa, but keep in mind that local certification may be required to sell in your home state. Looking to buy wild-harvested mushrooms? See our list of current wild-harvested mushroom certificate holders in Iowa. 

Consumer advisory statement in the ruling: "A consumer advisory shall inform consumers by brochures, deli case, menu advisories, label statements, table tents, placards, or other effective written means that ‘wild-harvested mushrooms should be thoroughly cooked and may cause allergic reactions or other effects.”

1. Specifics from the IDIAL Ruling on wild-harvested mushrooms, including definitions, criteria, specifics, etc. 
2. Fungi basics- morphology, taxonomy, ecology, resources, features for identification
3. Foraging safety and ethics, safe mushroom handling, and adhering to the IDIAL ruling
4. Specifics for morphological identification of the eight legal-to-sell types of mushrooms in Iowa, including ecological considerations
5. Identification of poisonous lookalikes for the legal-to-sell mushrooms found in Iowa, including key distinguishing features. Description of the symptoms of poisonings from these poisonous lookalikes.
6. Laboratory exercise, including identification and remembering key characteristics of both edible and poisonous lookalike mushrooms in Iowa.

Participants must take an in-person exam and pass with a minimum score of 80%. Reasonable testing accommodations can be arranged with advanced notice. After passing the certification exam, participants go home with the following: 

• big certificate
• wallet-sized certificate, laminated
• buyer specification form packet of 20
• Safe mushroom foraging book

With consent, names of certificate holders will be added to the publicly available list of certified wild-harvested mushroom identification experts. 

Legal-to-Sell Mushrooms in Iowa (Per ARC 5119C 31.1(4))

Common name(s)	Scientific name(s)	Image example
Morels (yellow, black, half-free morels)	Morchella americana (syn. M. esculentoides) Morchella angusticeps Morchella punctipes
Oyster (golden, pearl, aspen, lung)	Pleurotus citrinopileatus Pleurotus ostreatus Pleurotus populinus Pleurotus pulmonarius
Chicken of the woods, sulfur shelf	Laetiporus cincinnatus Laetiporus sulphureus
Hen of the woods/maitake	Grifola frondosa
Chantarelles	Cantharelles "cibarius" group
Toothed mushrooms (bear's head tooth, lion's mane)	Hericium erinaceus Hericium americanum
Pheasant back/dryad saddle	Polyporus squamosus (syn. Cerioporus squamosus)
Black trumpet	Craterellus cornucopoides