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Cadbury has removed the famous phrase "glass and a half" from its Dairy Milk bars after 80 years, having been told it contravenes European regulations.

The phrase was originally used to explain the amount of milk in every half-pound chocolate bar.

In its place, it now reads: "The equivalent of 426ml of fresh liquid milk in every 227g of milk chocolate".

But Trading Standards said it had no objections to the old phrase, and that Cadbury could continue using it.

The picture of the glass and a half of milk is still prominent on the front of every Dairy Milk, and will still be used in marketing the bar, Cadbury told the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Cadbury said it had been advised that it would be forced to drop the phrase describing the ingredients under European rules.

"Because EU regulations state that by 2010 all weights and measures on packs must be in metric, given our long run times we felt it was sensible to make that change now," said spokesperson Tony Bilsborough.

"That was our external legal advice and we checked that with Birmingham trading standards officers, who confirmed that was the case."

However, trading standards said the EU rules did not apply in this case.

"The Cadbury slogan is well known by consumers and should not be confused or caught up with food labelling laws," said Andy Foster at the Trading Standards Institute.

He said it was not part of the ingredients list, and so was not affected by rules regarding food labelling.

"Therefore the Trading Standards Institute would have no objection to the continued use of the famous slogan unless it was considered misleading by consumers."

Dairy Milk is the best-selling chocolate bar in the UK.

Cadbury was taken over by US food giant Kraft earlier this year.