A New Year’s Eve meal containing Death Cap mushrooms that left two Chinese people dead was prepared by a chef for his co-workers at a Canberra restaurant, health officials said yesterday.

Chef Liu Jun and kitchen hand Tsou Hsiang were named as the victims of the fungi used in a dish at the Chinese Bistro in the Harmonie German Club.

Three people were initially hospitalised after eating the mushrooms, unaware of its deadly properties. Liu and Tsou died, while the third remains in a critical but stable condition.

The Australian Capital Territory Health Directorate said the food containing the mushrooms was prepared at the club but there was no risk of wider contamination.

It is believed that the poisonous mushrooms were mistaken for an edible fungi known as the Paddy Straw mushroom, which is commonly found in Southeast Asia and considered a delicacy.

All parts of the Death Cap mushroom are poisonous and eating just one of the silky white-to-greenish-brown capped, white-gilled fungi can be fatal.