Sprout of order! Outrage as council tells residents how many Brussels sprouts to eat

'Only eat six sprouts on Christmas' says council. Photo / 123rf

Residents are furious after their local council told them not to eat more than six Brussels sprouts with their Christmas dinner.

As part of a campaign to cut down on food waste, Leicestershire County Council took to Twitter to announce the Brussels sprouts quota, writing: "Six sprouts = one portion. Don't overbuy and they won't go to waste."

Six sprouts = ONE portion. Don’t overbuy and they won’t go to waste. For more portioning tips visit https://t.co/BxotIbQvNW #Christmastip #wastefreexmas pic.twitter.com/BD03qjMsmx

— Leicestershire CC (@LeicsCountyHall) December 16, 2017

However, Brussels sprout lovers have lashed out at the council with one accusing them of trying to control what people eat.

Ian Bloomfield said: "Food Nazis now telling us what we should eat. I guess all potholes and resident problems are solved as you can afford to waste time tweeting nonsense."

"Looking forward to a string of prosecutions of ordinary Leicestershire folk in the new year as many will fail to heed this advice/warning/veiled threat," another said.

Other responders were a little more light-hearted.

Bobby P quipped: "If we want to leave Brussels we will".

Another wrote: "Thank you. In previous years without the benefit of your advice I bought hundreds and hundreds of Brussels, you saved me from that fate. How many bananas should I buy? Is it worth pre-peeling in bulk?"

A council spokeswoman told the Leicester Mercury: "We send out thousands of tweets, including messages about food waste, and sometimes we get it wrong.

"We want residents to enjoy every aspect of Christmas Day, including the sprouts!"