To keep up with the changes on the EU food market and enable consumers to eat healthy, the European Parliament approved a revision of existing rules on the composition, labelling and production of honey, fruit juices, jams, marmalades and milk.
Under the new rules it will not be enough just to indicate if honey comes from the EU or not. It will be obligatory to list the countries of origin, in descending order, together with what percentage of the product comes from them.
Minimum fruit content in jams will increase, which means there will be less sugar in them. Jams will have to have at least 450 grammes of fruit content per kilogram (before it was 350 grammes), while high quality “extra jams” will have 500 grammes of fruit content per kilogram (before it was 450 grammes). The term marmalade is currently used only for citrus jams, but with the new rules, it will be possible to use it for any fruit jams, in line with local traditions.
The EU will authorise the production of dehydrated milk products with reduced level of lactose. Dehydrated milk covers various types of milk that have reduced water content and may even be in solid form.