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- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen inadvertently consumed magic mushrooms during a visit to China.
- Yellen says she didn't trip on the shrooms, and properly cooking them kills the psychedelic properties.
- The dish sold out at the chain's other locations after Yellen ate there.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen almost took her trip to China a little too literally.
Yellen said she was unaware that the "delicious mushroom dish" she ordered at a popular Chinese restaurant contained mushrooms that could be hallucinogenic.
"I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties," Yellen told CNN's Erin Burnett. "I learned that later."
The Treasury Secretary said she read that if the mushrooms were cooked that they do not cause hallucinations, so it does seem unlikely that the Biden Cabinet official was trying to intentionally microdose.
CNN previously reported that following Yellen's visit the mushroom dish was selling out at Yi Zuo Yi Wang other locations across China. Yi Zuo Yi Wang means In and Out in English, but the Chinese chain bears no connections to the California burger giant. Instead of animal style fries, Yi Zuo Yi Wang specializes in Yunnan food, according to CNN it is a popular cuisine in southwestern China.
Yellen visited Yi Zuo Yi Wang as part of a group dinner during a visit that sought to rebuild relations between the world's two largest economies. Washington and Beijing have increasingly been at loggerheads as both major US parties turn against China. It didn't help matters that Beijing was behind the February spy balloon incident either.
"No one visit will solve our challenges overnight," Yellen told reporters at the end of her trip. "But I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication."