Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (England) Regulations 2003 Guidance Notes

Thursday 10 July 2003

The new legislation will replace the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977 (as amended) which currently apply to the whole of Great Britain.

The legislation will assist consumers by requiring a clearer distinction between juice obtained directly from fruit and that obtained by the reconstitution of concentrated juice.

This will be achieved by the use of the product name 'fruit juice' for juice produced directly from fruit; and the use of the name 'fruit juice from concentrate' for that made by reconstituting fruit juice concentrate.

In future, the wording 'from concentrate' will be an integral part of the product name, thus drawing the attention of consumers more readily to the method of production. Juices made by mixing fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate will be labelled as 'fruit juice' with the additional wording 'partially made from concentrate'.

An explanation of these terms is given separately. These product names will be used in the labelling of juice and also to describe juice where it is included in the ingredients listing of other foods.

When so used in labelling, the name of the fruit from which the juice was extracted should replace the word 'fruit' in the product description, for example, if the juice was extracted from an orange, and was not concentrated, the product name would be 'orange juice'.

The parts of the 'fruit' from which is permitted by the legislation to extract the juice are given in Schedules 1 and 2.

The legislation will also permit the addition of vitamins and minerals to fruit juice (with prescribed labelling), whilst maintaining existing rules on the addition of sugar, acidifying agents and ascorbic acid.

In addition, the new Regulations will bring methods permitted for the production of concentrated citrus juices (e.g. orange, grapefruit) more in line with those allowed in some major producing countries, such as the USA, where water-extracted juice can be incorporated in juice pressed from the fruit.