The European Council formally adopted updated rules on the composition, labeling and naming of honey, fruit juices, jams and dehydrated milk.
The updated "Breakfast Guidelines" aim to help consumers make more informed choices, ensure greater transparency regarding the origin of products and reduce food fraud.
Main improvements
Honey
In the case of honey blends , the new rules will make country of origin labeling clearer in order to increase transparency and combat honey fraud.
The labeling will indicate the countries of origin in descending order, by weight, including the percentage represented by each country.
Member States may decide that, for honey placed on the market in their respective territories, it is permitted to indicate only the percentage of the four largest quotas, if together they constitute more than 50% of the mixture.
Fruit juices
In response to the growing demand for low-sugar products, three categories of fruit juices are introduced, namely:
"fruit juice with reduced sugar content",
"fruit juice from concentrate with reduced sugar content"
"concentrated fruit juice with reduced sugar content".
Thanks to the new rules it is now possible to include the words "fruit juices contain only naturally occurring sugars" on the label.
This is intended to improve information for consumers, who are often unaware of the difference between fruit juices (which by definition cannot contain added sugars) and fruit nectars.
Jams
The minimum fruit content will be increased from 350 to 450 g per kg in jams and from 450 to 500 g per kg in extra jams .
This will help reduce the amount of sugar in jams, promoting healthier eating and supporting the fruit market.
Milk
In the case of dehydrated milk, the use of treatments for the production of lactose-free dehydrated milk products will be permitted.Next steps
The regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force 20 days after publication .After two years the new measures will be applicable throughout the European Union. ( Source: https://www.consilium.europa.eu /)
Breakfast guidelines (final text)
From producer to consumer (general information)