A warning has been issued by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Trading Standard Service: be careful of Christmas decorations which are designed to look like a food product. Apparently other councils around the country are issuing similar warnings.

According to online reports, there are many items on the market which are designed to look like food and which could potentially be dangerous. There is an argument that they could cause suffocation, poisoning, perforation or blocking of the digestive system. Of course, youngsters are most at risk for misunderstanding the nature of some of the festive decorations and trying to consume them.

It has recently been publicised online that one London company, O Widmann and Company, has had to remove sweet-imitations from the market.
You may have noticed that there is a current fashion for creating imitation baked goods such as cupcakes and sweets. They are often designed to be used as Christmas decorations. In East Riding in Yorkshire, the Trading Standards Service has made various inspections of shops offering Christmas decorations for sale – and on a couple of occasions, the reports are that some items had to be removed from sale and sent off for testing, which subsequently revealed that they could present a safety risk.

Products causing concern include items such as a lollipop tree garland and also a tree topper. If in doubt, the trading standards team can help to advise whether items for sale in the UK are legal or whether they breach the safety standards.

Posted by Hayley on the 16th December 2011