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| Vince Cable seeks to clear jam over EU ruling on fruit preserves | Vince Cable seeks to clear jam over EU ruling on fruit preserves |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| It is a plot that even Lewis Carroll, the inspiration for endless sayings about jam tomorrow but not jam today, would have struggled to imagine. | It is a plot that even Lewis Carroll, the inspiration for endless sayings about jam tomorrow but not jam today, would have struggled to imagine. |
| A pot of jam may look like jam, it may taste like jam and may even have the aroma of jam. But under EU rules, applied zealously by British officials, a pot of jam is not jam unless it contains at least 60% sugar. | A pot of jam may look like jam, it may taste like jam and may even have the aroma of jam. But under EU rules, applied zealously by British officials, a pot of jam is not jam unless it contains at least 60% sugar. |
| Vince Cable, the business secretary, is taking up cudgels to ensure that jam makers, who complain that they are constrained by the over-interpretation of EU rules through "gold plating", are free to call a pot of jam by its true name. | Vince Cable, the business secretary, is taking up cudgels to ensure that jam makers, who complain that they are constrained by the over-interpretation of EU rules through "gold plating", are free to call a pot of jam by its true name. |
| The villain of the piece are the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003 dreamt up by officials implementing EU rules. The regulations have created what the famously dour Cable has described, in a rare moment of humour, as a "no jams land". | The villain of the piece are the Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2003 dreamt up by officials implementing EU rules. The regulations have created what the famously dour Cable has described, in a rare moment of humour, as a "no jams land". |
| In this unfriendly space a pot of jam cannot be labelled jam unless it has a sugar content of at least 60%. If the pot has a sugar content between 51% and 59% it has no legal name. It is neither a jam, nor a preserve and must be called a fruit spread. If it has a sugar content of less than 50% it can be labelled "reduced-sugar jam". | In this unfriendly space a pot of jam cannot be labelled jam unless it has a sugar content of at least 60%. If the pot has a sugar content between 51% and 59% it has no legal name. It is neither a jam, nor a preserve and must be called a fruit spread. If it has a sugar content of less than 50% it can be labelled "reduced-sugar jam". |
| Cable has been persuaded to take action by Clippy McKenna, who started her jam-making business at her kitchen table in Sale, Cheshire. McKenna says most fruit-based preserves fall into the "no jams land" with a sugar content of between 51-59%. | Cable has been persuaded to take action by Clippy McKenna, who started her jam-making business at her kitchen table in Sale, Cheshire. McKenna says most fruit-based preserves fall into the "no jams land" with a sugar content of between 51-59%. |
| Cable said: "This is exactly the sort of ridiculous red tape that we want to do away with … Of course, consumers need to know that the product they're buying is what it says on the label. But as Clippy herself says, this looks like jam, smells like jam and tastes like a jam. The only thing stopping it being called jam is some outdated rules." | Cable said: "This is exactly the sort of ridiculous red tape that we want to do away with … Of course, consumers need to know that the product they're buying is what it says on the label. But as Clippy herself says, this looks like jam, smells like jam and tastes like a jam. The only thing stopping it being called jam is some outdated rules." |
| McKenna said: "In 2011, I was told by the EU and then the UK government that we couldn't call our jams 'jam' because they don't contain enough sugar. For the past 18 months I have been fighting this ridiculous red tape which is why I am absolutely delighted the government has agreed to lower the allowed sugar levels to include my fruit-tastic jams." | McKenna said: "In 2011, I was told by the EU and then the UK government that we couldn't call our jams 'jam' because they don't contain enough sugar. For the past 18 months I have been fighting this ridiculous red tape which is why I am absolutely delighted the government has agreed to lower the allowed sugar levels to include my fruit-tastic jams." |
| Lewis Carroll introduced the saying about jam tomorrow but not today in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The White Queen, who offers Alice "two pence a week, and jam every other day", says: "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day." | Lewis Carroll introduced the saying about jam tomorrow but not today in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The White Queen, who offers Alice "two pence a week, and jam every other day", says: "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day." |
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