On Thursday last week, sanity returned – for now – to the furore over the European Commission ban on serving customers olive oil in a dipping bowl when the EU’s Agricultural Minister Dacian Ciolos backed down and announced that the proposal has been withdrawn since “It can’t attract, at the moment, broad consumer support”.
Lack of political support was as important as consumer support: most politicians in Europe will have instantly recognised a ‘lost cause’ that could only have been proposed by a bureaucracy well out of touch with reality.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) had already introduced a note of sanity by pointing out that restaurants could have continued to serve customers olive oil in dipping bowls after the ban was introduced, provided they mix it with another product – for example, salt, vinegar or thyme.
An EU official had confirmed to the SRA that the new regulation, passed in Brussels last week, to protect the interests of olive oil producing nations, only covers 100 per cent olive oil, explaining that once salt or a herb for instance is added, the regulation would not apply.