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HEALTH

Five poisonous plants that might be in your French garden

A man died in the western town of Nantes last week after cooking and eating a plant from his garden. It is still not clear which plant he mistakenly cooked, thinking no doubt that it was something edible. Here are five poisonous plants that might be in your French garden.

Five poisonous plants that might be in your French garden

Experts warn that ordinary people’s gardens in France can be full of toxic plants and that people need to be aware of what to watch out for.

Children in particular should be warned that some of those lovely looking plants in the garden are best avoided.

If someone does accidentally consume the wrong plant and is feeling unwell, expert advice should be sought from a doctor or by calling one of the “Centres Anti-poison” that are located in big French cities.

(The full list of these centres is here:  www.centres-antipoison.net)

Here are some of the plants commonly found which can seriously damage your health:

Hemlock Water Dropwort

This is what may have killed the man in Nantes. They like marshy soil and look like celery with roots that resemble a bunch of carrots. Cattle can safely eat their leaves but their roots are highly poisonous, and a cow can die having consumed just one root.

Hemlock Water Dropwort. Photo: Wikicommons

Tomato

Yes, the familiar tomato can be a toxic plant. Obviously not the red fruity bits of the plant but the green stalks and leaves which can cause stomach ache or intestinal damage.

Tomato plant. Photo: AFP

Arum lily

This plant, with its pointed green leaves and white flowers, is a delight for the eye but a disaster for the stomach. When consumed, it can cause a burning sensation in the mouth, throat, lips and tongue, choking and swelling of the throat, and difficulty in swallowing.

Arum Lily. Photo: Wikicommons

Cherry laurel

A vigorous shrub often used to provide screening. Its leaves and fruit pips can, if chewed, release cyanide and benzaldehyde. It must not be confused with bay leaves, which of course are useful for cooking.

Cherry Laurel. Photo: Tomwsulcer/Wikicommons

Hemlock (or poison hemlock)

Socrates famously died after drinking a cup of hemlock. It’s a highly poisonous herbaceous flowering plant native to Europe and North Africa and can be seen in countless French gardens. To be avoided at all cost.
 
Hemlock. Photo: Wendell Smith/Wikicommons

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HEALTH

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Danish stores sold a significantly lower quantity of alcohol and cigarettes over the counter last year, new data from Statistics Denmark show.

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Some 3,852 cigarettes were sold year, which amounts to 804 per person over the age of 18. But that compares to a figures of 854 per person on 2022.

Cigarette sales in Denmark have been declining since 2018.

Sales of sprits, beer and wine fell by 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Danish business sold the equivalent of 44.4 million litres of pure alcohol, which works out at 11.9 units per week on average for each person over the age of 18.

Although that is a lower value than in 2022, it still exceeds the amount recommended by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

The Health Authority recommends that adults over 18 drink no more than 10 units per week and no more than four in a single day.

READ ALSO: Should Denmark raise the minimum age for buying alcohol?

“The numbers are still too high and it’s an average that could have a skewed distribution,” University of Southern Denmark professor, Janne Tholstrup, said in relation to the alcohol sales figures. Tholstrup has published research on Denmark’s alcohol culture.

That is in spite of a 30-year-trend of falling alcohol consumption, according to the professor.

“The majority of Danes stay under the recommended 10 unite per week. That means there is a large group with a persistently excessive consumption of alcohol,” she said.

The Statistics Denmark figures also show that sales of loose tobacco – such as the type used in roll-up cigarettes and pipes – also fell last year. Some 58 tonnes less were sold compared to 2022.

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