A JONES (HAS, Nov 8) falls into the trap of believing urban myths when claiming that the European Union regulations on the sale of cabbages contains 26,911 words.

Simply Google “EU cabbages 26911” to get a BBC web page on “The great cabbage myth”.

Apparently this all kicked off in America in the 1940s (before the EU was even thought of) when someone exaggerated the US regulations and got to the infamous number 26,911.

The word count was actually around 2,600 and somehow rumour ended up multiplying it by 10, until 26,911 appeared by magic and stuck.

The truth is that there is not an EU sale of cabbages regulation at all, although there is one for the sale of farm produce generally that contains a trifling 263 words.

On the other hand the National Farmers’ Union Red Tractor “protocol for cabbages” apparently has 23,510 words.

So the UK written standard has 89 times as many words as the relevant EU one - not something a Brexiteer wants to hear.

So let’s bury this one in the cabbage patch, and if we want to debate EU stuff, do the research first and get the facts right.

Nigel Martin, Pity Me, County Durham