Hampshire Trading Standards

Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003 Compositional Requirements

This advice is designed to provide basic guidance to traders. It is not a complete or authoritative statement of the law. A large print version is available.

These specify the composition of jam, jelly, marmalade, jelly marmalade, curd, flavour curd, sweetened chestnut puree and mincemeat. can be found at:

Note: These Regulations do not apply to Jam for the manufacture of bakery products.

Fruit content Jams, Jellies & Marmalade

These state that the product must be made with sugars and the following amounts of fruit per kilogram of finished product:

Fruit Type Jam Extra Jam
Redcurrants, Blackcurrants, Rosehips, Rowanberries, Sea Buckthorns or Quinces 250g 350g
Ginger 150g 250g
Cashew Apples 160g 230g
Passion Fruit 60g 80g
Any Other Fruit 350g 450g
Fruit Type Jelly Extra Jelly
Redcurrants, Blackcurrants, Rosehips, Rowanberries, Sea Buckthorns or Quinces 250g 350g
Ginger 150g 250g
Cashew Apples 160g 230g
Passion Fruit 60g 80g
Any Other Fruit 350g 450g
Marmalade Marmalade can only be made from citrus fruits. At least 75 grammes of the fruit must come from peel 200g
Jelly Marmalade This product must contain no insoluble matter,except possibly for smaller quantities of finely sliced peel 200g
Sweetened Chestnut Puree (as pureed chestnut) 380g

All these products must have a soluble solids content of the finished product of not less than 60%, as determined by a refractometer at 20º.

Note: 'soluble solids' are derived from sugar which includes sugar products (as defined in the Annex to Council Directive 2001/111/EC), fructose syrup, sugar extracted from fruit or brown sugar or any combination thereof;

"Reduced sugar jam" - this product must have a soluble solids content not less than 25% and not more than 50%.

 

Added Ingredients

Only the following ingredient may be contained in Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and Sweetened Chestnut Puree.

Ingredient Permitted Use
Honey in all products, as a total or partial substitute for sugars
Fruit Juice only in jam
Citrus Fruit Juice in products obtained from other types of fruit: only in jam, extra jam, jelly and extra jelly
Red Fruit Juices only in jam and extra jam manufactured from rosehips, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, plums and rhubarb
Red Beetroot Juice only in jam and jelly manufactured from strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrants and plums
Essential oils of citrus fruits only in marmalade and jelly marmalade
Edible oils and fats as anti-foaming agents in all products
Liquid pectin in all products
Citrus peel in jam, extra jam, jelly and extra jelly
Leaves of Pelargonium odoratissimum in jam, extra jam, jelly and extra jelly, where they are made from quinces
Spirits, wine and liqueur wine, nuts, aromatic herbs, spices, vanilla and vanilla extracts in all products
Vanilline in all products
Permitted Miscellaneous Food Additives (not colours or flavourings) in all products
 

Permitted treatments


The raw materials used may only be subjected to the following treatments:

Fruit pulp, fruit puree and aqueous extract of fruit may be

Heated, chilled or frozen

  1. Freeze-dried

  2. Concentrated, to the extent that is technically possible

  3. Sulphur dioxide (E220) or its salts, (Except in relation to extra jam or extra jelly) may be used as an aid to manufacture, subject to a maximum of 100 mg/kg in relation to jams, jellies and marmalades made with sulphited fruit).

Apricots and plums to be used in the manufacture of jam may also be treated by other drying processes, apart from freeze-drying.

Citrus peel may, additionally, be preserved in brine.

 

Curds & Mincemeat

 per Kg of finished product
'x' Curd or Lemon cheese The quantity of fat and oil usedmust be not less than 40g. The quantity of whole and egg yolkused must be not less than 6.5g of egg yolk solids. The quantity of fruit, fruit pulp, fruit puree, fruit juice, aqueous extract of fruit, and essential oil of fruit must be sufficient to characterise the finished product.
'y' flavour Curd The quantity of fat and oil usedmust be not less than 40g. The quantity of whole and egg yolkused must be not less than 6.5g of egg yolk solids. The quantity of flavouring material used must be sufficient to characterise the product.
Mincemeat The quantity of vine fruits and citrus peel used must not be less than 300g, of which, not less than 200g consists of vine fruits The quantity of suet or equivalent fat used is not less that 25g May be sweetened with sugar, brown sugar, cane molasses and honey. But not fruit sugars.

Curds (including Lemon cheese) and mincemeats are required to have a soluble solids content of 65% or more, as determined by a refractometer at 20ºC.