The European Union seeks to reinforce the quality of the products consumed by its citizens. Therefore, this June 14 A new regulation comes into force in which containers of honey, juices and jams must specify its origin and ingredients clearly and evident in their labels. A measure that will affect both products from member states and those imported from other nations.
This measure is present in Royal Decree 1026/2025, published in the BOE on the occasion of the ‘Breakfast Directives’ established by the EU. Some specifications created as a result of the lack of transparency of some companies producers of said foods when specifying the origin and amount of added sugars in their products.
The EU will force beekeepers to indicate the origin of their honey on the label
Specifically, this situation has widely affected the beekeeping sectorsince some of the honeys that can be found in supermarkets have a high amount of added sugars, they are adulterated or they mix small quantities of products of national origin with exported products to claim that they have European origin. A fact widely reported by beekeepers.
Precisely, to control and avoid these practices, the European Union will require that the front label of the container the exact origin of the product appearsspecifying the amount of each nationality used as percentages. For this reason, from the second half of June you can see jars of honey with the following: Spain 60%, China 40%For example. A measure that seeks to reinforce the rules applied in April 2024 by the European Parliament, which sought to reduce the alteration with water or artificial sugar syrups.
The minimum amount of fruit needed to make jams and fruits will increase
As for jams, their flavor will also change forever. As of the entry into force of this regulation, the minimum amount of fruit that companies must use to produce their products will be even greater. Before this regulation, companies only needed to include 350 grams per kilo to be able to launch their foods on the market; now they must add 450 grams at least to do it.
If you want to sell the preparations as ‘extra’ products, a larger amount of fruit must be included. All with the aim of reduce the amount of sugars present in each product and promote the marketing of increasingly natural foods. Something similar to what will happen with juices and nectars. Well, they can only be called juices those that are a 100% squeezed product. Those that include water should be called nectars.
The EU’s objective is for the consumer to be aware of what they buy
Likewise, for enhance the presence of those companies that produce totally natural juicesthese may include the following phrase on their labels: “Fruit juices contain only naturally present sugars”; and a new category has been created, ‘added sugar juices’for those squeezed products that are sweetened. The main objective of these new specifications is for the consumer to be aware of what they are buying at all times.
This regulation will come into force from June 14 in our country, although companies will have a deadline to be able to sell the products they have previously produced, even if they carry the previous labels. However, the new developments They must follow the instructions specified by both the EU and the BOE.