Belgium urged not to eat Christmas trees

The Belgian Federal Agency for Food Chain Safety (AFSCA) has appealed to citizens not to eat Christmas trees. This was reported by the newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday, January 7.

"Nothing can guarantee the safe consumption of Christmas trees by both humans and animals," the agency said in its appeal.

The reason for publishing such a warning was an article on the website of the city of Ghent, which has a very developed ecology and environmental protection movement. The publication provided a list of options for recycling conifers after Christmas. Environmentalists mentioned that in Scandinavian countries it was common to use pine needles for food, for example, making oil from them. However, AFSCA did not support the dubious initiative.

"It is impossible for the consumer to know whether Christmas trees have been treated with pesticides, and not knowing this can have serious or even fatal consequences," the agency emphasized.

Following this appeal, the title of the article on the City of Ghent's website was changed. The original version "Eat your Christmas tree" changed to "Scandinavians eat their Christmas trees".

Earlier, on December 9, in Germany, an eco-activist climbed into a wooden box in a hole and poured concrete over himself during a rainstorm, causing him to nearly die. The rescue service freed the man from the pit with the help of special tools. The activists were opposing the deforestation of forests for the construction of a residential area in Freiburg.