The size (or in any case the form) doesn’t matter any more for the EU.
A decision was taken on the 12th of November 2008 to get rid of the regulations regulating the over-regulated shape of fruit and vegetables sold in the EU.

So what?

As from 1 July 2009, you’ll finally have a chance to get in total legality either a completely twisted, 5% bent or 100% straight cucumber. Lucky you!

I think there are two noteworthy questions related to this story.
First of all: why did they need so long to understand that they “don’t need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level” (just quoting Mrs. Fischer Boel, the Commissioner for Agriculture)?

The second question is whether this is the end of the banana joke. I’m afraid it isn’t. I checked it twice: regulations on the shape of the yellow-skinned fruit were not abolished yesterday. The banana is not listed! Why would cucumbers enjoy more freedom than bananas? Just let them all grow naturally and accept them… in their diversity!

I’ll keep you up to date as soon as I get more familiar with banana-related issues.
Promise to work hard on that…

Have a nice weekend!

Sebastian

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