I have been feeding Illinois Everbearing mulberry leaves to chickens. Now I was planning on using mulberry leaves for tea and cooking. I have read that the leaves are very healthy. I did notice a white sap when cutting the leaves and doing some research I was concerned then I found this from Ohio State University:
“All parts of white mulberry, except for the ripe fruit, contain a milky sap (latex) that is toxic to humans. Although humans may consume ripe mulberry fruit, ingestion of unripe fruit can result in stomach upset, stimulation of the nervous system and hallucinations. The sap is also an irritant, and contact with leaves and stems may result in varying degrees of skin irritation.”
Also found this:
“The Poisonous Plants of North Carolina database lists both the North American native Morus rubra (red mulberry) and the introduced Morus alba (white mulberry) as mildly toxic. The toxic parts are the unripe berries and the white sap from any part. The symptoms are hallucinations and stomach upset.”
That is news to me. I have never heard of anyone using anything but the ripe fruit. Where did the mulberry tea idea come from?
The internet is full of health claims for consumption of mulberry leaves. You can buy mulberry leaf tea on Amazon and other stores. WebMD says there is insufficient evidence to backup the health claims except for some improvement in diabetes.
Where were you when I was in highschool? 
I eat white mulberry leaves as a cooked vegetable, they can replace spinach type leaves in meals. They don’t have much taste by themselves but aren’t bad. I only eat them cooked, they aren’t great raw. I remove the center vein and only eat them when small as I think they would be too fibrous when older.
I have made a tea with the leaves a few times, I like it. It is similar to green tea but without any bitterness.
