U.S. Treasury Secretary Says She Ate Magic Mushrooms During China Trip

Psychedelics have become all the rage in recent years due to their recreational appeal and therapeutic properties. But are they so mainstream that a member of the U.S. Cabinet would willingly down hallucinogenic mushrooms?

Well, not exactly—but that's what accidentally happened when U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen took a recent trip to Beijing. The 77-year-old wasn't aware that she was consuming so-called "magic mushrooms" at the time, nor did she experience their psychedelic properties.

Yellen opened up about her experience during a conversation with CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday. Since her visit last month, the Yunnan restaurant chain Yi Zuo Yi Wang—which translates to In and Out (in no relation to the burger joint)—where she inadvertently sampled a dish containing the jian shou qing mushrooms has seen a boost in business.

At the time, Yellen said she had no idea she was eating psychedelic mushrooms. Her meal only came light after a food blogger spotted her group dining at the restaurant and posted about it on Weibo, the popular Chinese micro-blogging site.

"So, I went with this large group of people, and the person who arranged our dinner did the ordering," Yellen told Burnett, laughing. "There was a delicious mushroom dish. I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later."

But as Yellen went on to explain, neither she nor anyone in her group experienced any adverse effects after partaking in the meal.

"I read that if the mushrooms are cooked properly, which I'm sure they were at this very good restaurant, that they have no impact," she continued. "But all of us enjoyed the mushrooms, the restaurant, and none of us felt any ill effects from having eaten them."

After Yellen was spotted at the eatery, the restaurant likewise confirmed in a tongue-in-cheek Weibo post that she had not only been there, but had consumed the mushroom dish.

"Speculating from the timestamp on the news, it was true that she came [to the restaurant] right after landing in China," the management at Yi Zuo Yi Wang said in the post. "Our staff said she loved mushrooms very much. She ordered four portions of jian shou qing. It was an extremely magical day."

According to Dr. Peter Mortimer, a professor at Kunming Institute of Botany, jian shou qing mushrooms look like another common mushroom, which can lead to some series mix-ups.

"It’s a medium- to large-sized mushroom, reddish color on the outside and yellow underneath and looks very similar to some of the porcini mushrooms," Mortimer told CNN last month. "So similar in fact that it is easily confused with local porcini species, often with interesting, or scary, consequences."