Another Eu Directive To Trash A British Tradition?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1161947/gloopy-sludge-threat-to-british-jam

So, under the guise of obesity it looks like we are moving to fall in line with another loopy EU directive.

When will it end?

Not until the Germans have total control of everything we say, do, build or use I suspect.

Sound familiar?

[anotheoldgit]

What next the banning of real sugar, to be replaced with a chemical produced substitute?

[sp1814]

I don't like the smell of this one.

It reminds me of that bogus story that bounced around last year (EU bans sale of home made jams in re-used jam jars).

And that other one banning Enid Blyton books.

I think we may be safe, especially considering the vast amount of power and leverage the multinational food conglomerates possess.

[FredPuli43]

It won't be compulsory to buy jam with less than 50 per cent sugar ! I am sure you can buy cheap jam now with less than 50 per cent, but I always look, when comparing jams. By, probably, a dreaded EU law, the sugar content is printed on the label. The expensive Wilkin of Tiptree marmalade in front of me has 67 per cent sugar, as does the damson jam, but that is exceptionally high.

[237SJ]

I`m not sure why they say it would be like "edible sludge" as it`s the pectin that sets a jam and not the sugar. The sugar is the preservative so manufacturers will probably end up putting preservatives in the jam which are probably more harmful than the sugar. I think I`ll stick to making my own, anyway.

[VHG]

I am just glad someone is looking at this jam problem !!!

Surely it is far more important they sort out the major problem of Jam rather than the more trivial problem of 24% youth unemployment across Europe.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/518612/20131031/eurozone-unemployment-youth-under-25-figures-research.htm

[gingejbee]

I think there are more important things to concern me than the consistency of preserves.

[youngmafbog]

more important things maybe, but they just keep chipping away and suddenly is it not a small thing

[askyourgran]

True youngmafbog, all our heritage is being gradually eroded.Our chocolate is awful plastic looking and plastic tasting, not a patch on the proper Belgian chocolate.

[woofgang]

people will do what they have always done and vote with their wallets. Hotel Chocolat chocolate is delicious. If you want quality, you have to pay for it.

[Kiki-frog]

Not that loopy really, other European countries' jams are loads nicer than ours. There's a far higher percentage of fruit, and they just taste so much better. In my humble opinion, that is

[FredPuli43]

Certainly the European jams we get here are good for fruit content. That's also shown on the label. The Tiptree damson jam made here has 50 g of fruit per 100g, and the best of the foreign jams are about as high.

[sandyRoe]

I thought the rule was, 'Jam tomorrow and jam yesterday but never jam today'.

[FredPuli43]

Indeed, sandy. The rule was coined by Lewis Carroll in 1871. The White Queen says it, explaining that there is jam every other day, but today is not any other day, so Alice couldn't have any, even if she wanted some!

[emmie]

make you own seems to be the answer. and there are excellent preserves on the market, made right here,

[LazyGun]

I still cannot quite see how this directive is going to trash a british tradition? They are not capping the total quantity of sugar in jam. Consumers will vote with their pockets, as ever. So if some brands of jam are added to the shelves with less sugar in them, and consumers find them repulsive, as the story suggests, then they will just switch to a brand with higher sugars in, surely.

Perhaps the consumer might even - shock, horror! - like the jams with lesser sugar content? In which case this is surely a triumph of free market principles? :)

All seems a bit of a non-story, to be honest.

[ludwig]

// Not that loopy really, other European countries' jams are loads nicer than ours. There's a far higher percentage of fruit, and they just taste so much better. In my humble opinion, that is //

I agree. I much prefer the soft set french jams. I actually buy the low sugar diabetic jams, even though I'm not diabetic because I prefer them to the normal stuff. The thing is though, if people want to eat thick sugary jam, that's their business really - as long as it's not poisonous or anything.

These attempts to control food never get very far - that's if they're not fictitious. They're usually instigated by some country or company trying to wrongfoot foreign competitors, like when the Belgians wanted to stop Cadbury's being able to call their product 'chocolate' because it had vegetable oil in it.

[atalanta]

The WI managed to frighten Tony Blair. I can't see them refusing to take on the EU where jam is concerned.