Unsold natural Christmas trees still have a purpose. Vendors sell them to zoos to be used as feed for some animals.

At the Berlin Zoo in Germany, fresh, unsold trees from select vendors are eaten or used for rubbing by the elephants, according to the Associated Press.

In Ghent, Belgium, the local government posted on social media tips for recycling conifers for dinner.

Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town website suggested that pine needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — to make flavored butter, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

Belgium’s federal agency for food chain security, AFSCA, responded to the post by issuing a warning to the public not to eat unsold Christmas trees.

“There is no way to ensure that eating Christmas trees is safe — either for people or animals. What’s more, there is no easy way for consumers to tell if a Christmas tree had been treated with flame retardant –- and not knowing that could have serious, even fatal, consequences,” AFSCA warned on Tuesday, according to AFP.

On Wednesday, Swedish officials came to the defense of the Ghent local government.

Sweden’s Food Safety Agency said it agreed with its Belgian counterpart that commercially bought Christmas trees “are not considered food because they may have been treated with plant protection products not authorized for edible crops.”

But Anneli Widenfalk, toxicologist at the Swedish agency, told AFP in an email that the Swedish custom of collecting and using needles from young saplings is safe — if in limited quantities.

“This is usually done in May to June when they are small and tender, and the tree has probably not been treated with chemicals,” Widenfalk said, AFP reports.

Pine needles can be used to make herbal butter infusions, syrups and liquor flavoring, Smalandsgran, a family business specializing in the sale of Christmas trees, said.