Thursday, November 13, 2008

"Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables"

Thank you, EU, for entertaining me this morning. They've eased up laws against oddly shaped produce, which lead to statements like this one:

“This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, European commissioner for agriculture, who argued that regulations were better left to market operators.

A new dawn, curvy cucumbers!

But curvy bananas still need to watch out:

The European Union is well known for its detailed regulations on agricultural items. Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94, for example, states that bananas sold in Europe must be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature,” though Class 1 bananas can have “slight defects of shape,” and Class 2 bananas can have full “defects of shape.” Bananas were not covered in the ruling, so for now, these standards remain.

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