Mixed blessings for Pringles

Pringles, the popular tube based snack, has been declared to be 'not a crisp' by a court. The makers, Proctor and Gamble, had gone to court because potato crisps, unlike most food, are subject to VAT.

According to the BBC report:

The manufacturer had insisted that their best-selling product was not similar to potato crisps, because of their "mouth melt" taste, "uniform colour" and "regular shape" which "is not found in nature".

The good news for P&G is that they won and so they will save millions of pounds in VAT (customers may also see the benefit).

The bad news is that they are officially now 'unnatural' products.

Doesn't this remind you of the bit in Yes Minister when the Eurocrats are trying to redefine British sausages as high fat offal tubes?