Euro-battle to restore wonky fruit sale ban

The much condemned ban was lifted by the European Commission last July, ending food waste surrounding the shape and uniformity of fresh produce. The move also cut retail prices by as much as 40 per cent in some cases.

But Spanish Euro-MPs tabled a plan to bring the ban back – and yesterday they won the support of a majority on the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee.

The issue now goes to the full Parliament for a vote and, although it is unlikely to be approved by EU Ministers, the attempt was attacked as nonsensical by Tory Euro-MP Richard Ashworth.

"Food is food, no matter what it looks like," he said. "To try to stop stores selling perfectly decent food simply because of its shape or size is morally unjustifiable, especially when we are worried about global food supplies."

He went on: "These rules should never have been in place at all and it was finally a dose of common sense when the Commission repealed them.

"For Euro-MPs to now campaign to restore them really is beyond the pale and we will fight to stop this happening."

Until the ban was lifted in July last year, EU rules dictated the shape and size of 36 varieties of produce, from apricots to watermelons, effectively banishing all but perfect specimens.

The then EU Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fischer Boel trumpeted a rare popularity high point for eurocrats, declaring: "We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level."

The Spanish government was among a handful of protectionist countries which opposed the lifting of the 20-year-old ban last year. Others were Italy, France and Hungary, all wanting to keep the ban to ensure a level playing field for food quality.