the essential
The town of Ghent, in Belgium, has stood out in recent days, inviting its residents to “eat their Christmas trees” in order to avoid waste. The country's authorities have redefined the Flandrian city.
Eating your Christmas tree, an absurd idea? Not for the city of Ghent, Belgium. In recent days, the town, on its website, has invited its residents to “eat their Christmas trees” in order to avoid waste. An initiative that the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (Afsca) hardly appreciated when questioned on the subject.
“Christmas trees are not intended to enter the food chain,” she said to warn this stronghold of environmentalists in Flanders. For its part, the town in north-west Belgium explained that the Scandinavians are used to drying fir needles to prepare, for example, a butter spread.
The city changes its tune
“Nothing can guarantee the safe consumption of Christmas trees by both humans and animals,” this agency also underlined, due to the probable use of pesticides to grow these trees. Furthermore, it is also not (easily) possible for the consumer to know whether the Christmas trees have been treated with flame retardants and not knowing this can have serious or even fatal consequences. insists Afsca.
“In summary, there are many reasons not to promote or encourage the reuse of Christmas trees in the food chain.” Following this warning, Ghent partially modified its publication on its site. The town replaced its catchy title “Eat your Christmas tree” with “Scandinavians eat their Christmas trees”.
