It can be almost impossible to tell the difference between a deadly wild mushroom and what is deemed as a delicious delicacy for the dinner table.

With a significant increase in the popularity of exotic foods on cooking shows, South Australians are being reminded not to eat or pick up wild mushrooms.

With recent rains in the region, several poisonous varieties have grown in numbers, sparking a warning from SA Health's Chief Medical Officer Dr Nicola Spurrier, who said 32 people had been admitted to South Australian hospitals since 2015, including 12 children.

"With the increasing popularity of foraging and cooking shows that use exotic ingredients including unusual mushrooms, I would remind everyone that there is no reliable way to determine if a mushroom is safe to eat," she said.

"While some wild mushrooms are edible, there are others that can resemble supermarket varieties, which may contain poisons that can result in sickness or death.

"I would also particularly urge parents to keep a close eye on young children outdoors at this time of year, as we know they tend to put things in their mouths."

Can cause abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting

The Yellow Stainer is one of many wild mushrooms often mistaken as safe to eat. ( ABC News: Matthew Smith )

Wild mushrooms can cause an array of health problems — for example, the Yellow Stainer can cause severe abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

While others — including the conveniently named Death Cap mushroom — can cause liver damage, kidney failure or death.

More than 300 calls have been made to the Poisons Information Centre hotline for suspected mushroom exposure since 2014, with eight so far in 2018.

Of those 300 calls — 201 involved children under five years old — with 72 of those referred to hospital.

Dr Spurrier said it was very important to stay away from mushrooms which you can't identify.

"We know that people are starting to think about wild mushrooms and that people do like to go into the Adelaide Hills and look for wild mushrooms, but it's very important to know if you cannot identify a mushroom it is not safe to eat," she said.

"We've got a number of toxic mushrooms in Australia and it is very important to heed the warning — if you don't know what it is, don't eat it.

"If you are lucky it will just cause a tummy upset for a couple of days which you'll get over, but it could be worse than that.

"If you've ingested a mushroom that you cannot identify and you don't have symptoms, then it's also important to seek medical advice in case what you've eaten is toxic."

It can be hard to tell the difference between wild mushrooms which are safe to eat and which are poisonous. These pictured are safe to eat. ( ABC News: Matthew Smith )

'Toxins can't be destroyed by cooking'

Numbers of the potentially deadly Death Cap mushroom have recently grown in the Adelaide Hills and Honorary Research Associate at the State Herbarium of SA, Pam Catcheside warned of the dangers of consuming them.

She also warned of the dangers for people from other countries who may be even less familiar with deadly mushrooms found in Australia.

"Poisonous Death Cap mushrooms are responsible for nine out of 10 deaths from mushroom poisoning in Australia," she said.

"All parts of the fungus are poisonous and their worst toxins can't be destroyed by cooking.

"A major problem with the Death Cap is that it has been mistaken for the Stubble Rosegill with fatal results, since the latter species is very similar to the Paddy Straw mushroom, a delicacy in Asian cuisine.

"People who come from Asia, they see this thing, looks like the Paddy Straw, wonderful, we can eat it and in Canberra a number of years ago there were fatalities, just cause of that, misidentification and people find it difficult to identify fungi, they are different.

"Even the experts can have difficulty in identifying some species, so my advice is to eat only mushrooms that have been purchased from a reliable grower, green-grocer or supermarket."

The Death Cap mushroom can cause liver damage, kidney failure or death. ( Supplied: David Catcheside )

Detoxifying poisonous mushrooms is 'just mad'

Marco Marinelli from Mushroom Man's Mushroom Shop at the Adelaide Central Market said for every edible mushroom there was dozens of different varieties which might not be as safe to eat.

He also said the growing trend of foraging for food was playing a part in the increased warnings for wild mushrooms.

"It's a combination of foraging is fashionable part with the restaurants, but we've seen on social media of late, you know, restaurants that want to detoxify some poisonous mushrooms and it's just mad," he said.

"Why would you want to do it — so many great varieties that are actually available from edible wild ones to cultivated mushrooms from around the world.

"Our foragers were born to foraging, they were literally taught by their grandparents, taught by their parents, over in Europe, they know that they're doing, but they only know what they're doing with very specific mushrooms.

"So they're 100 per cent confident with their foraging, they're confident with their Pine Mushrooms, their Slippery Jacks, they're not confident with other mushrooms cause they didn't grow in their regions of Europe, so even they won't go near stuff they're not 100 per cent sure of because, until you know, you don't know."

It can take up to several hours for symptoms to appear following the ingestion of a wild mushroom.

If you suspect someone you know has eaten a wild mushroom, do not wait for symptoms to occur — contact the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 and in an emergency, call triple zero (000).