Crooked carrots see the light of day

Chris Davies

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies played a key role in ensuring that crooked carrots and curvy cucumbers can be sold in shops. 

Mr Davis says he helped to vote down a bid by Spanish MEPs to restore old EU rules restricting the sale of imperfect-looking fruit and vegetables.

The controversial proposal to reinstate the ‘community marketing rules’ gained the support of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee last month, but it was heavily defeated by a vote of all MEPs in Brussels.

Mr Davies welcomed the rejection. He said it led to perfectly healthy fruit and veg being thrown away.

He added: “I want EU rules to ensure that food on sale is safe to eat, but shoppers can make up their own minds about whether to buy bendy bananas or crooked carrots.”

But the MEP admitted that supermarkets often responded to consumer demand by telling farmers only to supply them with good looking products.

Mr Davies commented: “People say they want choice, but the majority of shoppers avoid buying fruit and veg that they think looks strange.”