Jam

Description of product

Jelly and jam are made from fruit, fruit juice, lemon peel and sugar. The producer may add certain amounts of other ingredients such as vanilla, wine, herbs and spices, cooking oil and fats.

• The addition of chemical colour and conservation agents to jam is not permitted.

There are two quality classifications of jams and jellies ("extra" and "ordinary").

The former common term "Marmalade" has been reserved since 1982 for a specialty from England. This consists of at least 20% citrus fruit, of which at least 7.5% is fruit flesh or juice. The remainder comprises thinly cut peel, which provides the tart to bitter taste. The most common marmalade is orange marmalade.

• See also: nut nougat cream

Possible application of gene technology

Applications of gene technology are possible in the following ingredients that commonly are found in jam. However, the extent to which a particular product is affected by these possibilities cannot be stated with certainty:

• a portion of the required sugar could be substituted by glucose syrup, or less frequently by fructose syrup. As all products that can be used for starch saccharification, these can be produced from maize-, potatoes-, oder wheat starch using enzymes prepared through gene technology.
• sugar from GM-sugar beet
• mono- and diglycerides as anti-frothing agents
• acidifier: citric acid

Fruit and vegetables: At present, worldwide, no genetically modified fruit or vegetables (such as apples, pears or grapefruit) are used commercially.