You can tell that Christmas has been consigned to the history books for a couple of months at least after supermarkets and other retailers were urged to keep daffodil bulbs away from areas selling fruit and vegetables.

In a letter to major stores, Public Health England warned that the flowers could be confused for food produce, such as onions, and that inadvertent consumption of the spring perennial was now an “emerging risk”.

Just for the record, we don’t suggest that you sample battered daffodil rings with your next burger or opt for sage and daffodil bread.

However tempting those culinary creations might be, it is worth remembering – or being taught – that daffodils contains potentially toxic alkaloids that can induce severe vomiting episodes.

According to reports, accidental ingestion of the plant (and other members of the narcissi species) was responsible for nearly thirty cases of poisoning last year.

“Each spring stores such as yours provide a wide selection of flowers, particularly cut daffodils and daffodil bulbs,” Professor Paul Cosford stated.

“Unfortunately there are rare occasions when the bulbs are mistaken for onions, and the stems or leaves are mistaken for a type of vegetable [that is] popular in China,” he added.

It is believed that the popular Chinese vegetable referred to is a variety of chive (allium tuberosum) that is often used in cooking that has originated from Asia.

But despite the slight incredulous and amusing aspect of this statement, poison by daffodils is not unheard of. As noted, nearly thirty cases were recorded in 2014 alone, though the most prominent occurrence of the event took place in 2012 when ten people were hospitalised in quick succession.

In that case all affected patients went on to make a full recovery, but the Health Protection Agency had to reinforce safety protocol and approached specific retailers in the Bristol area to “install point of sale signage and product labels….stating that these flowers are not edible.”

You have been warned!