By Edward J. Thomas –
Well, the holiday spirit certainly evaporated in Europe pretty quickly this year. And the disputes, which started in Belgium and then extended to Sweden, came about over whether it is wise or even healthy to eat Christmas trees.
The problem spouted, forgive the pun, after the city of Ghent recommended cooking with conifer needles in its list of ways to recycle Christmas trees. This led Belgium’s Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain to step in and cut down the suggestion as unsafe and unhealthy.
All this begs the question, of course, of exactly what someone can make out of confiner needles. Apparently, some extremely tasty butter, at least that is what Scandinavians have been doing for centuries, according to Ghent officials.
“In Scandinavia, they have been doing it for a long time: picking the needles from the branches, briefly immersing them in boiling water, pouring them through a sieve and drying them on a clean cloth,” Ghent’s website noted. “Once the needles are dry, you can make delicious spruce needle butter with them for bread or toast.”
The Belgian federal food agency responded emphatically to that notion, announcing that Christmas trees “are not meant to end up in the food chain.” Too many of them are treated with pesticides and other potentially dangerous chemicals, it warned.
“What’s more, there is no easy way for consumers to tell if Christmas trees have been treated with flame retardant—and not knowing that could have serious, even fatal consequences,” the agency reported. “There is no way to ensure that eating Christmas trees is safe—either for people or animals.”
Ghent city officials, however, didn’t entirely balk after the federal smackdown. Instead, it changed its online headline on tree munching from “eat your Christmas tree” to “Scandinavians eat their Christmas trees.” They did admit that “not all Christmas trees are edible.”
The tree war was limited to a Belgian-only issue until Ghent officials started throwing Scandinavians under the bus or at least the Christmas tree.
A day after Belgium warned against eating Christmas trees, Swedish officials from the country’s food safety agency stepped up to proclaim that the needles are safe for making butter and other products, as long as the trees are young and wild.
One Swedish company, Smalandsgran, that specializes in tree sales even contributed to the notion that trees are edible, adding they also offer health benefits.
“The soldiers at the time of Charles XII knew that these shoots—rich in vitamin C and minerals—had a preventive effect on health,” the company’s website notes.
These shoots can be used to make butter, herbal infusions, syrups or to flavor alcohol such as schnapps. There are even spruce beers, brewed by the Vikings one thousand years ago, the Smalandsgran site added.
Who knew tree needles were so controversial?
