Council Directive 2001/113/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human consumption - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 10/67

Certain vertical Directives relating to foodstuffs should be simplified in order to take account only of the essential requirements to be met by the products they cover so that those products may move freely within the internal market, in accordance with the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992, as confirmed by those of the European Council meeting in Brussels on 10 and 11 December 1993.

Council Directive 79/693/EEC of 24 July 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and chestnut purée (4) was justified by the fact that differences between national laws relating to the products concerned could result in conditions of unfair competition likely to mislead consumers, and thereby have a direct effect on the establishment and functioning of the common market.

Directive 79/693/EEC was consequently designed to lay down definitions and common rules governing composition, manufacturing specifications and labelling of the products concerned, so as to ensure their free movement within the Community.

Directive 79/693/EEC should be brought into line with general Community legislation on foodstuffs, and in particular legislation on labelling, colouring agents, sweeteners and other authorised additives and, for the sake of clarity, should be recast in order to make the rules on the conditions for the production and marketing of fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human consumption more accessible.

The general food-labelling rules laid down in Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) should apply subject to certain conditions.

In order to take account of existing national traditions in the making of fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée, it is necessary to maintain existing national regulations authorising the marketing of such products with a reduced sugar content.

In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality established by Article 5 of the Treaty, the objective of laying down common definitions and rules for the products concerned and bringing the provisions into line with general Community legislation on foodstuffs cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the nature of this Directive, be better achieved by the Community. This Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the said objective.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (6).

To avoid creating new barriers to free movement, Member States should refrain from adopting, for the products in question, national provisions not provided for by this Directive,

The product names listed in Annex I shall apply only to the products referred to therein and shall be used in trade to designate them.

The product names used in Annex I may, however, be used in addition to the name and in accordance with practices used to designate other products which cannot be confused with those defined in Annex I.

The product names shall be supplemented by an indication of the fruit or fruits used, in descending order of weight of the raw materials used. However, for products manufactured from three or more fruits, the indication of the fruits used may be replaced by the words ‘mixed fruit’ or a similar wording, or by the number of fruits used.

The labelling shall indicate the fruit content by including the words ‘prepared with … g of fruit per 100 g’ of the finished product, after deduction of the weight of water used in preparing the aqueous extracts, if appropriate.

The labelling shall indicate the total sugar content by the words ‘total sugar content … g per 100 g’, the figure indicated representing the value determined by refractometer at 20 °C for the finished product, subject to a tolerance of ± 3 refractometric degrees.

The sugar content need not, however, be indicated where a nutrition claim is made for sugars on the labelling pursuant to Directive 90/496/EEC (7).

The particulars referred to in point 3 and the first subparagraph of point 4 shall appear in the same visual field as the product name and in clearly visible characters.

Where the residual content of sulphur dioxide is more than 10 mg/kg, its presence shall be indicated on the list of ingredients by way of derogation from Article 6(4) of Directive 2000/13/EC.

bringing this Directive into line with general Community legislation on foodstuffs,

adaptations to technical progress.

authorise the marketing of the products defined in Annex I if they comply with the definitions and rules laid down in this Directive, with effect from 12 July 2003,

prohibit the marketing of products which do not comply with this Directive, with effect from 12 July 2004.

‘Jam’ is a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency, of sugars, the pulp and/or purée of one or more kinds of fruit and water. However, citrus jam may be obtained from the whole fruit, cut into strips and/or sliced.

The quantity of pulp and/or purée used for the manufacture of 1 000 g of finished product must not be less than:

‘Extra jam’ is a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency, of sugars, the unconcentrated pulp of one or more kinds of fruit and water. However, rosehip extra jam and seedless raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and redcurrant extra jam may be obtained entirely or in part from unconcentrated purée of the respective fruits. Citrus extra jam may be obtained from the whole fruit, cut into strips and/or sliced.

The following fruits may not be used mixed with others in the manufacture of extra jam: apples, pears, clingstone plums, melons, water-melons, grapes, pumpkins, cucumbers and tomatoes.

The quantity of pulp used for the manufacture of 1 000 g of finished product must not be less than:

‘Jelly’ is an appropriately gelled mixture of sugars and the juice and/or aqueous extracts of one or more kinds of fruit.

The quantity of juice and/or aqueous extracts used in the manufacture of 1 000 g of finished product must not be less than that laid down for the manufacture of jam. These quantities are calculated after deduction of the weight of water used in preparing the aqueous extracts.

In the case of ‘extra jelly’, however, the quantity of fruit juice and/or aqueous extracts used in the manufacture of 1 000 g of finished product must not be less than that laid down for the manufacture of extra jam. These quantities are calculated after deduction of the weight of water used in preparing the aqueous extracts. The following fruits may not be used mixed with others in the manufacture of extra jelly: apples, pears, clingstone plums, melons, water-melons, grapes, pumpkins, cucumbers and tomatoes.

‘Marmalade’ is a mixture, brought to a suitable gelled consistency, of water, sugars and one or more of the following products obtained from citrus fruit: pulp, purée, juice, aqueous extracts and peel.

The quantity of citrus fruit used in the manufacture of 1 000 g of finished product must not be less than 200 g of which at least 75 g must be obtained from the endocarp.

The name ‘jelly marmalade’ may be used where the product contains no insoluble matter except possibly for small quantities of finely sliced peel.

‘Sweetened chestnut purée’ is a mixture, brought to a suitable consistency, of water, sugar and at least 380 g of chestnut (Castanea sativa) purée for 1 000 g of finished product.

Products defined in part I must have a soluble dry matter content of 60 % or more as determined by refractometer, except for those products in respect of which sugars have been wholly or partially replaced by sweeteners.

Without prejudice to Article 5(1) of Directive 2000/13/EC, Member States may, however, in order to take account of certain particular cases, authorise the reserved names for products defined in part I which have a soluble dry matter content of less than 60 %.

Where fruits are mixed together, the minimum contents laid down in part I for different kinds of fruit must be reduced in proportion to the percentages used.

honey as defined in Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey (1): 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 quince,

spirits, wine and liqueur wine, nuts, aromatic herbs, spices, vanilla and vanilla extracts: in all products,

vanilline: in all products.

Fruit:

(Fruit) pulp:

The edible part of the whole fruit, if appropriate, less the peel, skin, seeds, pips and the like, which may have been sliced or crushed but which has not been reduced to a purée.

(Fruit) purée:

The edible part of the whole fruit, if necessary, less the peel, skin, seeds, pips and the like, which has been reduced to a purée by sieving or a similar process.

Aqueous extracts (of fruit):

The aqueous extract of fruits which, subject to the losses necessarily occurring in proper manufacturing, contains all the water-soluble constituents of the fruit used.

Sugars

Authorised sugars are:

The products defined in items 1, 2, 3 and 4 of part A may be treated in the following ways:

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 be preserved in brine.