Curvy cucumbers and nobbly carrots will be back on sale in Ulster shops from next July, after the EU yesterday gave the chop to "ridiculous" laws which banned them from the shelves.
Northern Ireland grocers and supermarkets will soon be able to sell imperfect-looking fruit and veg, for the first time in 20 years.
EU-wide marketing standards ensuring only the finest-looking produce reaches the shops were deemed rotten to the core by the European Union Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.

EU standards stipulated the size and shape of 36 types of fruit and veg sold in Europe, from apricots to watermelons.

But 26 types of fruit and veg, including artichokes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, onions, peas, carrots, plums, and ribbed celery will have their shape restrictions lifted.

And national authorities could exempt even those 10 from the rules on shape and size, as long as they are put on sale labelled as "product intended for processing" or something similar.

Ulster MEP Jim Nicholson today welcomed the European Commission's decision of the "Bendy Banana legislation", as long overdue.
The laws would go down in EU folklore as another example of "ridiculous and intrusive" EU legislation, he said.

"At last the Commission has seen sense," the MEP commented.
"In a time of financial instability and with food prices rising it was becoming an even more crazy position to take. Food is food no matter what it looks like. The vast majority of consumers are concerned about the taste and quality of food, not if a carrot is 5mm over the permitted bend ratio!

"It is now incumbent on the large multiples to follow the lead of the European Commission and start stocking fruit and vegetables of all shapes and sizes. To disregard perfectly good fruit and vegetables during a food and credit crisis is morally repugnant."
When the mis-shapen produce does reach the shelves, retailers estimate it could be sold as much as 40 PER CENT cheaper than the current "class one" goods.

A Commission spokesman said: "These rules were originally asked for by the fruit and veg industry, because when a wholesaler orders crates of cucumbers, he needs to have some idea of the quality of the produce. We then based our rules on international standards applied by a committee of the United Nations.

"However, times have changed, and we agreed during negotiations last year that we could get rid of red tape in this area.
"Now household budgets are tighter and there is the problem of wasting food too, so it makes more sense than ever to allow people to buy mis-shapen fruit and veg if they wish."
Commissioner Boel said: "This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the nobbly carrot. It's a concrete example of our drive to cut unnecessary red tape."