EU drops plan to ban dipping bowls of olive oil

The controversial decision by the European Union (EU) to ban restaurants from using refillable jugs and bowls of olive of oil has been dropped.

Widespread criticism from the hospitality industry and consumers appears to have led bureaucrats in Brussels to have scrapped the proposed regulations, which were described by Martin Couchman, the deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA) as "a nonsense".

He told Caterer and Hotelkeeper: "It is probably intended for good reasons, but in practical terms it is overkill."

The policy, which was due to come into force on 1 January 2014, would have required restaurants to serve olive oil in pre-packaged factory bottles with a "tamper-proof" dispensing nozzle, preventing them from putting dipping bowls of oil on tables.

Now Dacian Ciolos, the agriculture commissioner, has acknowledged that the planned ban had failed to find sufficient support, according to the BBC.

"I have seen and heard strong views expressed by consumers," he said. "As a consequence I am withdrawing the proposition."

But he continued to defend the idea, saying restaurants were potentially misleading customers by serving cheap or old olive in containers presented as new.

The proposed ban caused a storm of criticism on social media websites with the likes of chef Grant Hawthorne describing it as "a daft idea of a law. Sad thing, loads of jobsworth enforcement officers will take delight in prosecuting. EU 1 Common sense 0."

Olive oil ban should not have come as surprise say European Commission and Government >>