New look at bendy bananas

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Dec 27, 2007

BENDY bananas have been part of eurosceptic folklore for years.

Along with straight cucumbers and carrot jam, they have been the standard-bearer for all that's supposed to be crazy about the Brussels bureaucracy.

But now the European Commission - which generally fights shy of entering debates it cannot win - has tackled the issue head-on.

Faced with a written question from North West Euro-MP Chris Davies, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel said that the bendiness of bananas was a valid matter for Brussels.

Not one banana grower, wholesaler, retailer or customer had ever complained about the European bendy banana legislation, first introduced 13 years ago.

Uniform banana rules were part of national laws in some countries long before the entry came into force in EU Regulation 2257/94 from January 1 1995.

Under the regulation, bananas must be at least 14cm long and free from "abnormal curvature".

Mr Davies said he raised the issues with the Commission to try to clear up one of the long-standing arguments about overregulation by eurocrats.

The Liberal Democrat MEP maintained the industry needed such standards to streamline international trade.