Too curvy or just right? Photo: cyborgsuzy/flickr

After a 20-year ban, the European Commission is allowing the sale of less than perfect fruits and vegetables.

"July 1 marks the return to our shelves of the curved cucumber and the knobbly carrot," Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, says. "More seriously, this is a concrete example of our drive to cut unnecessary red tape ... It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' size and shape."

For years, the European Commission regulated the size and shape of fruits and vegetables sold on the continent.

These days the European Union is being looked at as an inept "taste police" by many chefs and food enthusiasts. While working in the cheese industry, I spoke with many French cheese makers who felt threatened by the strict laws regarding cheese aging facilities and feared anti-raw milk legislation. This week, bakers in Germany were angered by a proposed regulation on the salt content in their products.

An article from the New York Times states that Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for health, decided on Wednesday to postpone making a decision on new regulations due to the intense reaction from the German bakers, represented by a federal association and by regional lobbies. Commission spokeswoman, Nina Papadoulaki, defends the EU by claiming, "Our aim is to provide consumers with better information so that they can make informed choices. The commission has no intentions of prohibiting any bread. We have decided to continue our talks with the stakeholders."

It seems that one of the major issues that's not being addressed by the EU, thus far, is the preservation of cultural traditions in the various EU countries. Culinary cultures that date back hundreds of years are at stake. The negligence on their part to fight to maintain cultural diversity within the EU is astonishing when related to food concerns. Perhaps, there needs to be another organization to express these issues to the EU. What do you think?

Well, there aren't many of them. To be more specific, there is only one coffee making robot in Italy so far (but leave it to the Italians to come up with this one)

The robot's name is Justine, and she was only just introduced to the world as a prototype at a robotics conference in Rome on Wednesday. So far Justine can only make instant coffee, but her creators say just give it time.
They're working on ways to give the coffee maker enough sensory equipment and the ability to use both hands so that one day you can have your very own barrista at home.

Justine is the first result of a European Union project called DEXMART, which involves research partners in Italy, the U.K., France and Germany. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but I know lots of people who are. I bet they can't wait for the day when every one has their own coffee robot. "Justine, I'll have a double shot espresso, please."

The FDA has determined that food from cloned animals and the offspring of cloned animals is as safe to eat as the products from conventionally bred animals. While food producers, manufacturers and sellers in the US ponder over that conclusion, the EU is looking to draw its own. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has begun an investigation into "the future impacts of livestock cloning."

Currently, there are no regulations in the European Union about the consumption of cloned animals or of any products derived from them. The science behind animal cloning has developed so rapidly over the past few years, however, that some scientists believe that clones are on the verge of being able to become commercially viable for mainstream animal breeders/producers. But feasibility is not the be-all and end-all of the issue. The EFSA intends to look at not only scientific studies, but at ethical ones. They expect to be able to start to shape their decision in about six months.

With all the coverage we here at Slashfood have been giving gingerbread men and gingerbread houses I thought it might be fun to search the web for Guinness World Records involving the favorite holiday flavor.

Without doubt, the most impressive gingerbread record this year is Roger Pelcher's gingerbread house. The house - which was built at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. - stands just shy of 64 feet. Pelcher beat his previous record of 57 feet.

It took him and his team nine days to build the 1,496-square-foot ginger-scented, candy-laden mansion. Given its size and the fact that it includes a gingerbread factory complete with animated elves, I think it's fair to call it a mansion. The gargantuan confection contains 14,250 pounds of gingerbread, 4,750 pounds of icing and more than a ton of candy decorations. Hansel and Gretel eat your heart out.

I'm not sure why people like to make gingerbread creations of outlandish proportions in Minnessota, but they do. From Rochester comes the world's largest gingerbread man. The big guy weighs in at 466 pounds and was baked by the Gingerbread House Bakery. The bakery plans to bring it to the Mall of America to join Pelcher's gingerbread palace.

The European Union has taken another step towards an internationally standardized system of food labeling, prompted by concern over obesity. The guidelines are voluntary right now, and companies including Coca-Cola and Nestle, as well as 86 other groups and companies, have agreed to comply with the regulations. New packaging will have "calorie information clearly on the front of packaging, with a more detailed list of nutrients, including energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and salt, on the back. "

The companies that have chosen not to comply are likely those who do not wish to incur the expense of new packaging or are worried about a loss of sales. Even though, in one instance, sales shifted during a labeling change, consumers generally are unaffected by the nutritional information when they want to purchase a product.

When I lived in Italy, one of my favorite antipasti dishes was a rare Italian cheese called Mozzarella di Bufala Campana. Made from buffalo milk in the central and southern regions of Italy, the mild, smoky cheese is similar inconsistency to what we in America know as fresh mozzarella.

I know what you're thinking: Buffalo milk?

Since when are people breeding water buffalo? Actually, the practice of raising water buffalo was developed in the marshlands between Naples and Caserta. Because the land was undeveloped, could farmers breed and raise buffalo in a roaming, wild state.

The cheese holds a "Protected Designation of Origin" from the European Union, which means that only products genuinely originating in that region are allowed in commercial use. So, if you do decide to make some cheese out of your friendly neighborhood water-buffalo, just know that you are going to have to call it by a different name if you want to sell it!

Richard Lochhead, a candidate in the Scottish National Party, has added a food issue to his platform that he things will help his campaign. He has promised to fight to give Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status to shortbread. PDO is a classification by the EU that aims to ensure that goods, if given a particular name, originate from a single location. This would mean that the only official shortbread could come from Scots bakers, if the biscuits were given protected status; other shortbreads would have to be described as "shortbread-like." The Walkers bakery is a local employer in the area Lochhead is campaigning in, so it seems like a good stand for him to take, even if shortbread is unlikely to receive PDO status.

The Italian government recently voted, almost unanimously, to uphold its decision to allow only products made with 100% cocoa butter to be labeled as "pure chocolate". Other fats are allowed in the products, such as those from milk, fruits and nuts, but the European Union currently allows up to 5% vegetable fats to be present in a product labeled as "pure chocolate". In both sets of definitions natural flavors and soya lecithin (non-genetically modified, in Italy) are allowed to be present in chocolate.

Italy introduced this definition of "pure chocolate" in 2003 in order to protect traditionally produced Italian chocolate from competition with imports, which were less expensive due to their partial use of non-cocoa fats. Italy, which may have to face the European Court of Justice because of its failure to recognise the European standards, is planning to petition the EU to obtain Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) status for its chocolate. Achieving this status would mean that the EU would recognise the Italian "pure chocolate" label and its assurance of 100% pure cocoa butter products made in a traditional manner.

Italian chocolate makers and cocoa growers have supported the government's efforts wholeheartedly. Chocolate is a 350 million euros ($424 million dollars) per year business in Italy, with the average Italian consuming nearly 10 pounds per year, a number which doubled in the past ten years and continues to grow.

The European Union has developed a proposal to allow foods that have up to 0.9% genetically modified material to be sold with labels that confirm them as organic. The EU says that this measure, which would go into effect by 2009, is being proposed to protect organic farmers against the "risk of GM contamination." The commissioner for agriculture and rural development claimed that this move would make it easier for consumers to identify organic products, presumably by making them more similar to non-organic items.

Current guidelines stipulate that organic products cannot contain genetically modified substances "in any quantity." Environmental and organic groups are protesting the action, saying that "organic" labeled products should contain no more than 0.1% GM material, the lowest amount that can be detected both reliably and consistently. The EU should support organic farming, but not by lowering the standards of the industry.