The European Union (finally) comes to its senses:
If there has been one truly effective stick to beat the EU with over the years, it has been the bizarre and Byzantine reams of regulation it is accused of promulgating.
The classic anti-EU story is that “faceless eurocrats” were banning the curved cucumber. It was all the more powerful for having a solid basis in truth. Namely, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1677/88 of 15 June 1988.
Class I cucumbers must “be reasonably well shaped and practically straight (maximum height of the arc: 10 mm per 10 cm of the length of cucumber)”. Class II “slightly crooked cucumbers may have a maximum height of the arc of 20 mm per 10 cm of length of the cucumber”.
These are allowed to have some blemishes and discolourations. Any cucumber more crooked must be packed separately and must be otherwise cosmetically perfect.
So if a cucumber is crooked and has a blemish on it, it cannot be sold in a shop or market. It is allowed to go for processing, but often the cost of transport to a manufacturer is prohibitive and the produce is simply allowed to rot.
As of next summer, this regulation (for cucumbers and 25 other similarly regulated fruits and vegetables) will be repealed. And it only took 20 years!
sasha
I look forward to more fruitful shopping days ahead!
The current fuss is over the upcoming ban high energy light bulbs.
MB
Next up – free the cheese!
Peej
I think I will adopt ‘crooked cucumber’ to describe anyone who falls short of expectation.