String beans given their orders
The European Parliament has ruled that string beans should be no more than 12 millimetres wide.
It also says they should be perfectly straight and without any seeds. The law however says that in every bunch of 20, one imperfection in straightness will be tolerated as long as it's small and confined to the end of the bean.
The policy has reportedly been signed by German agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler.
According to reports, beans which don't meet the requirements will have to be identified and given a lower price.
