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Listen to this siteWednesday 12 June 2002
In 2001 the Food Advisory Committee, which advised the Agency on food policy issues, issued advice about the use of the terms fresh, natural, pure etc. in the labelling of food.
A meeting was held on 5th November 2001 to discuss the findings of the Food Advisory Committee.
At this meeting a number of points were raised, by both consumer associations and industry representatives, about the conclusions of the FAC review of the terms 'pure' and 'freshly squeezed' as applied to fruit juice.
A further meeting of consumer representatives and other interested parties was held on 28 January 2002 to discuss the application of the terms 'pure' and 'freshly squeezed' to fruit juice.
At this meeting there was general agreement that the term 'freshly squeezed' and other similar terms should only be used to describe products with a 'use by' date no later than 14 days from squeezing (pressing).
The consumer representatives also wanted a date of squeezing to be indicated on the label so that consumers could determine freshness and an indication of whether the product had been pasteurised.
Although there was less agreement with the use of the term 'pure', the majority view was that there was considerable support for the FAC recommendations for the use of this term.
It was agreed that it could be used to describe only products with no additives.
One of the consumer representatives pressed for a labelling statement on products from concentrate, indicating that it had been returned to its original strength.
There was a minority view that ';pure' should not apply to fruit juice from concentrate restored with water.
It was concluded that the majority view of the use of the term 'pure', and the agreed definition of 'freshly squeezed' would form the basis of agency advice.
However, as attendance of consumer representatives at the meeting was low, it was decided that a record of the meeting and the conclusions drawn should be circulated to interested parties for comment.
The comments received suggested that the agreement reached at the meeting did not sufficiently account for consumer opinion.
Additionally, a minority of interested parties from industry expressed concern that consumers did not understand the labelling of fruit juice, in particular the terms 'not from concentrate' and 'made with concentrated juice'.
To ensure that consumer opinion was taken into account, and to determine if stakeholder perceptions were correct, a consumer attitude survey was commissioned to identify what consumers expected of fruit juice described as 'pure' and 'freshly squeezed'.
As industry representatives had expressed concern about consumer understanding of 'from concentrate' and 'not from concentrate' it was decided that it was important to determine consumer understanding of these terms as this may impact on how 'pure' and 'freshly squeezed' are viewed.
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(pdf 480KB) Labelu Sudd Ffrwythau Adroddiad Ymchwil Welsh Language versionDownload pdf
(pdf 460KB) Use of terms 'pure' and 'freshly squeezed' in fruit juice labelling - Scottish stakeholder letterDownload pdf
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