EU makes it Illegal to sell jam/preserves in re-used jars

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213975/Tradition-selling-jam-used-jars-breaches-EU-health-safety-rules.html#ixzz28daocFKO

The new ones from Lakeland are ridiculously expensive (although they do have rather snazzy patterned tops).

P.S. Good job the EU don't know about us selling soft fruit in re-used plastic punnets.

 

They have to find the bail-out money from somewhere!

 

Best not let on about the jar of honey and the jar of figs in syrup that a greek friend gave us to bring home a couple of weeks ago.

We've just about finished destroying the delicious evidence anyway.

 

As much as I enjoy mocking the EU for their stupid rules, I wonder if this one is well intentioned.

"Unless they are specifically designed for that purpose". I wonder if the intention here is to 'encourage' manufacturers to use jars intended for reuse?

Alternatively, maybe they're trying to stifle capitalism. Put a few people out of business, push prices up, and force more people to venture out into the countryside to collect their own wild fruit and make their own preserves? Hmmm, probably not.

 

Just do as the French do, agree wholeheartedly, ....... and then carry on as usual.

 

Maybe its time to remind the EU that there wouldn't be an EU if we hadn't re used jars, dug for victory & generally made use of everything that we could lay our hands on in the last war.

If we were ruled by the Reiche Republic then that would be the least of our problems.

Our Parents and Grandparents didn't fight in 2 World Wars for some jumped up office clerk to tell us what we can put our jam in.

Next time they want a hand defeating a war machine, we'll remind them of this.

 

One of the excuses for it is hilarious

"Chemicals may leech from the glass"
IMHO
There is no problem at all with glass, so long as you sterilise the jar
I mean babies bottles, are used over and over six times a day
The milk man re uses the bottles day in and out for years hopefully
My demi Johns get re-used

STRANGE

Jack Mch

 

Only problem i've had is when vinegar has attacked the metal lids, but that takes over a year normally.

Glass will last for millenia. Only breakdown I can see is when it starts forming olivine crystals in about 5,000 years.

 

That's nice of them to worry about a few stray chemicals getting into us. I live near and work in one Europe's biggest chemical works, the food I eat has routinely had all manner of chemicals added to it, even my drinking water might have chlorine and/or fluoride added. I can walk into any branch of Wilkos or B&Q or any such store and walk back out with all manner of aerosols and sprays and concentrated compounds to use without any requirement to prove I know how to use it.

With all the exposure to potentially harmful chemicals that I'm currently exposed to, I feel such relief that at least I can safely took in to my jar of jam, made from fruit and sugars that may have been treated with all manner of things, but at least the glass isn't going to poison me, and I thank the EU for that.

 

Did you know...
The EU was forced to backtrack after its scientists claimed there was no proof drinking water helped with dehydration.

 

I'm guessing Messrs Hartley, Robinson, Tiptree, Bonne Maman et.al will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of upping their prices in the name of packaging their preserves in some sort of non-re-useable container.

It's already almost impossible to find anything which comes in a glass bottle and ones with metal caps (which can be re-used for things like small amounts of homemade cordial or sauces) are as rare as hen's teeth.

I recently tried 4 shops in order to purchase the foil you use for re-covering (or covering your own homemade) cake boards, only to be told that it was ' ... difficult to get because 'they' don't like people making their and want you to buy new boards'. Irrespective of the fact that I had no difficulty buying it online, I don't always want round or square boards and the largest hexagonal board I could find recently was 14" - not a great deal of use for the 16" cake that was supposed to sit on it (and when I did find one, it was £7.74 ).

And, on a slightly different topic - my local supermarket now gives me the 'option' of buying 2 pints of milk in ..... a plastic bag . They (i.e. Dairy Crest) say ' ... these bags can be recycled along with your standard carrier bags' failing to add that all-important caveat 'where facilities exist' which with my local Council, they don't. Why not just put all liquids (certainly those over 500ml) back into glass bottles?

 

I recently tried 4 shops in order to purchase the foil you use for re-covering (or covering your own homemade) cake boards, only to be told that it was ' ... difficult to get because 'they' don't like people making their and want you to buy new boards'. Irrespective of the fact that I had no difficulty buying it online,

Wow - I didnt even know you could buy it. What is it called if I google it?

Many thanks for that

 

I thought small scale, irregular sales, were exempt, so a harvest festival, school fete once or twice a year, etc. would be OK, but a regular WI shop, carbooter, fund raising stall, etc. would need to comply.

P.S. Mrs Scrungee at this very moment is hurriedly cutting out gingham covers to cover up second hand jam pot lids!