DEFRA Consultation Letter, 27 March 2013

JAMS - Formal written consultation on the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations

A copy of the consultation document is available on this site. See: Consultation on amending the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003

I am writing to invite views on the proposed amendment to the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003 on options to reduce the minimum permitted soluble solids (sugar) level for jams and similar category products such as jellies and marmalades.

As part of the Red Tape Challenge exercise covering the hospitality theme, a review of all existing rules covering food labelling and compositional standards was carried out. As a result one of the conclusions of this exercise was to review the Jam and Similar Products(England) Regulations 2003 and act upon requests from industry to lower the soluble solids content (sugar level) in order to bring our Regulations in line with recent changes made in some other European countries, particularly France and Germany. The other changes include the removal of the specific category for ‘reduced sugar jams’ and removing national provisions for curds and mincemeat. This consultation seeks the views of stakeholders on options for change that will be applied through a new Statutory Instrument for England.

Options: The options considered as part of the consultation are:

• Option 1 – Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams from 60% to 50%. Remove the UK national limit for ‘reduced sugar’ jam and align this with the broader ‘reduced sugar’ definition under health claims rules. Remove national provisions for curds and mincemeat. Address the elements of gold plating in the current Regulations. Change the enforcement regime by introducing improvement notices.
• Option 2 – Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams from 60% to 55% with an ingredient specific exemption for Bramley apples to a level of 50%. Other changes remain the same as in Option 1.

Preferred option: Option 1 is the preferred choice as this gives the greatest level of flexibility for jam manufacturers, a reduced burden for businesses and government. It will deliver a more consistent approach for the consumer in the use of product names as a wider range of ‘fruit spread’ products will be able to use the commonly understood term ‘jam’.

We would welcome comments both on the proposal to reduce the sugar level of jam and similar products and on the various deregulatory options set out above. These are detailed more fully in the consultation document and the accompanying Impact Assessment.

Responses should be received by 22 May 2013.

Additional documents are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/jam-and-similar-products-england-regulations-2013