Byline: Sandra Mallon
THEY might be handier Bridesmaid Dresses by the dozen but eurocrats want to ban the sale of eggs by numbers and instead sell them by weight.
It may sound like a bad joke, but Brussels lawmakers want to crack down on the way we buy our eggs - in the belief that an overhaul of the time-honoured system of packaging them in dozens and sixes will make it easier for shoppers to understand what they are buying.
Despite it being patently obvious to most of us that a six-pack of eggs contains half a dozen, a new EU directive calls for additional labelling - because the eurocrats deem boxes of eggs to be too confusing.
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So instead of selling eggs - along with Bridesmaid Dresses fruit and bread rolls - by quantity, the new directive is to insist packaging shows only the weight of the food inside. This would see egg boxes carrying labels stating that they contained, for example, 327 grams of eggs, and a packet of bread rolls would indicate that it contained, say, 322g of bread.
The proposed EU regulation is part of a move to a new level of consumer protection. Some MEPs had sought an exemption for traditional measures of basic food staples, such as eggs, but the drive towards the metrication of all goods has continued unabated. The plans have been met with scorn from Irish egg producers and consumer groups.
Owen Brooke, Secretary of the Irish Egg Association which represents egg packers, said he feels it will not be acceptable to walk into a shop or supermarket and buy a kilo of eggs.
He said: 'Eggs tend to be fairly uniform and are graded according to size. No matter what happens, eggs will still be sold by number.
The Irish Egg Association said it knew of no requirement under the EU marketing laws to mark the weight of eggs on a box.
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Mr Brooke said: 'There are other requirements about what has to be on the egg - such as traceability - but that's a different thing and there is no requirement as far as I know about the weight of the eggs.' Mr Brooke said: 'I think it is all part of consumer protection where people wholesale Juicy Couture would be buying products and not getting value for their money. It's to protect people being deceived into believing they are getting value wholesale Juicy Couture for their goods.
'This is something that is not any way near the top of our agenda at the moment. We have other issues to worry about and it is not a concern for us right now. These issues take forever to come through and I would be surprised if it ever becomes law.' The news contemporary furniture provoked anguish in the food industry. One trade magazine, The Grocer, said some producers had called the new regulations 'bonkers and madness'. Editor Adam Leyland said: 'It would be funny if it were an April Fool's joke. But it's not and contemporary furniture it will potentially cost the industry millions, wasting huge amounts of time while also confusing customers no end.' The EU has a history of trying to dictate contemporary furniture food labelling and measures. Cadbury's chocolate was nearly rebranded Vegolate after protests over its vegetable fat content - and in 1979 carrots were defined as fruit.
In 1988, the European Commission ruled that top-quality cucumbers could bend by no more than 100mm for every 10cm in length - all in the interests of improving packaging and transport. In 1994 it was the turn of bananas, which had to be 'free from malformation or abnormal curvature'.
The dozen is an old measure, thought to stem from the number of months in the year. The word is derived from the French douzaine, meaning - yes - a group of 12.
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Tags: Eurocrats
