EU straightens out fruit and veg law

Supermarkets have only been selling good-looking fruit and veg in recent years - but that could be about to change

Curvy cucumbers and nobbly carrots will be back on sale in the shops from next July if, as expected, more than two dozen laws banning imperfect-looking fruit and veg are scrapped.

EU-wide marketing standards ensuring only the finest-looking produce reaches supermarket shelves have been in force for 20 years.

But to reduce red tape and bureaucracy - and make cheaper fruit and veg available as household bills rise - eurocrats say it is time the unnecessary restrictions disappear.

EU standards currently stipulate the size and shape of 36 types of fruit and veg sold in Europe, from apricots to watermelons.

If the vote goes through, the rules will be repealed for 26 of them, including artichokes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, onions, peas, carrots, plums, and ribbed celery.

Specific market rules would stay in place for the 10 products which account for 75% of EU fruit and veg trade - apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches/nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes.

But national authorities could exempt even those 10 from the rules on shape and size, as long as they are put on sale labelled as "product intended for processing" or something similar.

The Commission said that, if the vote goes through, the changes cannot be implemented until the start of July next year, for practical reasons.

But when the mis-shapen produce does reach the shelves, retailers estimate it could be sold as much as 40% cheaper than the current "class one" goods.

Conservative MEP Neil Parish said: "These crazy rules have to go immediately."

- Gallery: Weirdest-looking vegetables