European legislators have paved the way for a U-turn over the sale of irregularly shaped vegetables as consumers across the Continent struggle with rising food bills.
European Union officials have signalled that restrictions governing the size and shape of 16 types of vegetables could be lifted. The EU currently specifies minimum standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetable.
Individual countries will also be able to exempt any type of fruit or vegetable from the requirements if products are marked as “intended for processing”, according to the Daily Mail.
“Credit should be given to the EU agriculture commissioner for pushing through these proposals,” said Conservative MEP Neil Parish, who chairs the European Parliament's agriculture committee. “Consumers care about the taste and quality of food, not how it looks. To stop stores selling perfectly decent food during a food crisis is morally unjustifiable.”
The news comes after Sainsbury’s last month ditched plans to sell irregular vegetables branded as novelty Halloween items such as ‘witches’ fingers’ and ‘zombie brains’ – plans that would have contravened EU requirements on the shape and size of retail goods.
According to some estimates, as much as 20% of the vegetables harvested by UK farmers are thrown away before sale to comply with the requirements.
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