Earl Grey tea may be no more. Trixy passes on this unsourced news:
For almost 200 years, it has been the preferred drink of British polite society. But now the distinct taste of Earl Grey tea is under threat from meddling Brussels bureaucrats. Producers of the citrus fruit bergamot, which gives the blend its unique flavour, say they cannot afford to obey health and safety rules which will become law this year.
Under the regulations, bergamot oil, which is mainly produced for perfume, is classified as potentially dangerous and must be tested and resisted with the European Chemicals Agency. But owners of the small family-run farms in southern Italy, where the fruit is almost exclusively produced, say they will be ruined by the extra £35,000 cost, so will grow something else instead.
A BBC snippet adds only that “They may need to use a synthetic subsitiute.”
Netsmith wonders, “Is there no part of British life that is sacrosanct, protected from the EU?” Apparently, not.
Americans likely best know Earl Grey because of the fictional Jean-Luc Picard’s affinity for “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” Then again, the Briton with the oddly French name Frenchman who oddly had a British accent was drinking a synthetic version created by the ship’s replicator.
