Posted on 06/27/2010 12:18:05 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
British shoppers are to be banned from buying eggs by the dozen under new regulations approved by the European Parliament. For the first time, eggs and other products such as oranges and bread rolls will be sold by weight instead of by the number contained in a packet. Until now, Britain has been exempt from EU regulations that forbid the selling of goods by number. But last week MEPs voted to end Britain’s deal despite objections from UK members. The new rules will mean that instead of packaging telling shoppers a box contains six eggs, it will show the weight in grams of the eggs inside, for example 372g. Or that a bag of white rolls has 322g inside instead of half a dozen. The rules will not allow both the weight and the quantity to be displayed. Last night, Britain’s Food Standards Agency said it was opposed to the move, putting the UK on a potential collision course with Brussels. It could be the first test of David Cameron’s pre-Election promise to stand up for Britain’s interests in the EU. Eggs have traditionally been sold by the dozen or half-dozen, because the old imperial measurements such as inches or pennies were calculated in groups of 12. Early in the 20th Century, eggs were sold from trays on shop counters and carried home in paper bags. But between the two world wars, it was discovered that eggs kept longer if they were left standing on their ends, so the cartons of 12 and six were developed. Last night, an FSA spokeswoman said: ‘This proposal would disallow selling by numbers. Retailers would not be allowed to put “Six eggs” on the front of the box. If it was a bag of rolls, it would say “500g” instead of six rolls.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Seriously, who didn't see this coming?
What about hotdogs and hotdog buns?
Will they FINALLY standardize it so the dogs and buns match???
(Seriously, its a dumb idea they have....)
If only it were!
In previous years they imposed rules about the correct “curvature” of bananas and cucumbers, to wide ridicule. The reputation of the EU hasn’t recovered since.
Not that it had much of that to begin with...
So now a 4 egg cake becomes a 248g-egg cake? Is that with or without shell?
How is this useful when it comes to recipes and servings? Why is it such a dreadful and now illegal thing to list both how many units as well as the weight on the packaging?
Why did the once Great Britain join the EU again?
Exactly. People don’t care how much eggs weigh. And if they do, sort of, the designations “small, medium, large and extra large” have worked very well for centuries.
Eggs are measured by the number of eggs. Period.
Does anyone pay the least attention to the weight?
And do recipes still say “two eggs” or do they say “such-and-such grams of eggs”?
It will be illegal to show both, apparently.
I think what they are targetting is the use of terms like Medium, Large, Extra Large eggs etc, which are misleading, whereas with weight you know what you are getting.
Shhhh, don’t mention it, and they might at least leave that alone so a unit count can still be done.
>>> EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen
Heavy on the shoulders rests the yolk of tyranny.
Tyranny and fascism come in various faces.
I’d say it is the curse of the civil servants (’managers’, in modern terms). The manager is part of that strange breed: it reproduces by ‘generatio spontanea’, and at frightening speed. Put 3 of this species in some office cubicles, and assign dumb but time consuming tasks to them. Miraculously, after half a year, there will be 6 of them, and after 9 months, there are 12 already. They have meetings most of the time in which they decide that there are more managers necessary in their staff. Delegating and implementing is their thing.
They have a fatal flaw. They tend to lose sight on reality very, very quickly. And they got some time to kill. This is the answer to the riddle about the eggs. After some serious desk-drumming, a new and brilliant idea will pop up. This time it’s the conversion from numbers of eggs to their net weight. Next time it will be strict rules for the height of the foam manchet on top of your glass of beer. After that, it will be an extra tax on 2nd hand condoms. And so on.
So, if they change recipes from using “two eggs” to use “128 grams” of eggs what will happen next?
Each egg will need to be weighed and marked on the shell!
Government inspectors will ensure the scales are correct and the markings are legible.
The next step will be to sell the eggs without the shell.
After that, you’ll have to buy the yolk and white separately.
The Nanny state in all its glory...
The Bloody Flippin Idiots. Sentence borrowed from Andy Capp.
Excellent!
I'm expecting a decree soon regarding forced wearing of underwear inside out. We must wear underwear on the outside, so that they can check.
Its perfect, absolutely perfect. It perfectly illustrates the difference between capitalism in a free environment and socialism in a command and control environment. Protect the consumer who does not need or want to be protected at the cost of waste, inefficiency, and inconvenience (and in this case absurdity) because socialists control stuff. That’s what they do.
How can that not be the first days lecture in Econ 101. Oh, I forgot. That course is taught by socialist lefty college professors almost everywhere. Too bad.
They never voted Thatcher out, and haven’t been given a reasonable choice since then.
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