Minnesota Instagram star's cookbook recalled for potentially dangerous ingredients

Rodale Books has stopped production and distribution of "Tales from a Forager's Kitchen," by Minnesota author/blogger Johnna Holmgren (foxmeetsbear.com) because of potentially dangerous misinformation on eating certain raw wild items, specifically mushrooms and elderberries.

Holmgren, who lives in the woods in Washington County with her family, has a wide following on social media, particularly Instagram where she has more than 130,000 followers. Her book was published in May.

BuzzFeed first wrote about the issue on Aug. 1, in an article detailing the concerns of health experts, as well as highlighting critical comments from foragers that appeared on Amazon's reviews of the book.

Comments posted on the site include these: "Dangerously bad recipes. Foraging communities are shocked at the information in this book," from an Amazon customer. "Serious safety warnings," states another, this from a reviewer under the name Wild Explorations.

Both the publisher and its parent company, Crown Publishing, as well as Holmgren have posted a note to readers in response:

"Rodale Books and our author Johnna Holmgren take very seriously the concerns expressed by readers regarding the preparation and cooking of recipes with raw ingredients (mushrooms and elderberries) that are contained in her recently published 'Tales From A Forager's Kitchen.' In light of our review of these concerns, and because of our dedication to wellness, Rodale Books and Johnna Holmgren have decided to discontinue the publication and promotion of the book.

"We are encouraging retailers to return their stock, and we are offering a full refund to consumers who have purchased the book. Consumers should email foragerskitchen@rodalebooks.com for more information. We are all committed to publishing books that offer reliable and comprehensive guidance about their subjects and we regret the inconvenience to our booksellers and readers."