The simple answer is no. Rose hips are not poisonous. You can eat all rose hips. However, just because they aren’t exactly toxic, doesn’t mean you can eat all that your heart desires. Rose bushes are often sprayed with various herbicides and pesticides. They also contain irritating hairs in their seeds. If you fail to remove them you could have some adverse reactions.

Ways to Eat Rose Hips

We introduce this common ways to use rose hips (as always) with a short video. This one takes place in the fall on the east coast of Sweden.

Method 1: Eat Rose Hips Raw

In the fall, rose hips can be picked. They’re much better after the first frost (they get sweeter this way). Care should be taken to remove the seeds as they are full of somewhat itchy hairs.

Method 2: Make Nypon Soppa (Translates as Rose Hip Soup)

Nyponsoppa directly translates to Rose hip soup. However, it’s not always a soup. It’s more of a thick juice. It can be very sweet and is often served after dinner as a bit of a sweet addition to the meal. In Sweden you can get it in containers like the one below.

Method 3: Make a Tea

The final method is to make a tea out of the rose hips. You can always buy a packet of rose hip tea from the store, but you can also make your own. Just to be safe we removed the seeds, added the red fruit parts to water that just came to a boil. Then we let is sit for 20-30 minutes and drank. Easy peasy.