The European Commission has achieved the near-impossible - praise all round for putting wonky fruit and veg back on supermarket shelves.
Producers, politicians and supermarkets were united in support of a decision banishing EU rules regulating the size and shape of 36 types of produce.
Leading supermarkets welcomed the return of perfectly good but mis-shapen goods, from apricots and carrots to watermelons and courgettes.
For 20 years - at the request of the food industry - the EU set strict marketing standards ensuring only the finest-looking produce reaches the shops.
But to reduce red tape and bureaucracy - and make cheaper fruit and veg available as household bills rise - Eurocrats have lifted unnecessary restrictions from Wednesday.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel declared: "We don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators."
She went on: "The changes mean that consumers will be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' size and shape."
Tesco spokesman Adam Fisher said: "We welcome this move and it's not before time. We look forward to selling curly cucumbers and knobbly carrots while ensuring the quality of our ranges isn't compromised."
Food and farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the new regime would help shops label their fruit and vegetables correctly and would also "provide more choice for people who aren't bothered by what shape their five-a-day comes in".
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Tory MEP Neil Parish said it was "immoral" to ditch good food on aesthetic grounds and he looked forward to more "interfering laws" being scrapped over the coming months.
