In the Western World, uses of fungi as food are few in number and
bounded by a mixture of legend and taboos which often impinge only peripherally
upon reality. Even in continental Europe, more macro—fungi are consumed than
in the British Isles. It is automatically assumed that filamentous micro—fungi are
necessarily harmful — with the sole exception of the blue and green moulds
found in certain types of cheese. The modern discovery of aflatoxins offers some
justification for this traditional distrust of the filamentous fungi, but the long—term
nature of the effects of these toxins makes it unlikely that there is any causal
connection.