EU ban on selling eggs by the dozen ruled out

Germany's Renate Sommer stepped in after days of claims that legislation on food labelling would oblige customers to change the habits of a lifetime.

Under proposed new rules which are still a year away from approval, produce traditionally packaged and sold by number would also have to be labelled by weight.

That could increase costs and bureaucracy for some producers and add to retail prices, and may be contested by EU ministers in the coming months.

But Ms Sommer, criticising "erroneous Press reports", said: "There will be no changes to selling foods by number."