Media reporting EU ban on reusing jam jars at Church fetes is BUNKUM
The MSM were busy reporting new European health and safety regulations banning reusing jars for fetes.
The Express told us:
The great British tradition of selling home-made jams and chutneys at fetes could be a thing of the past – thanks to meddling Brussels bureaucrats.
It seems the recycled jars generally used by jam-making enthusiasts are in breach of European health and safety regulations.
And the Daily Mail:
They are the backbone of church fetes, village fairs and jumble sales all around the country.
But the thousands who regularly sell their home-made jam, marmalade or chutney in re-used jars may have to abandon their traditions after a warning that they are breaching European health and safety regulations.
Both the Mail and the Express go on to detail a circular issued by the Church of England on the back of these EU regulations, prohibiting the sale or raffle of used jam jars at public events.
The problem is that this is all untrue, as the European Commission has confirmed:
Recent media coverage on reusing jars for homemade jams for sale at charity events certainly fired up the imagination of the headline writers: “EU elf ‘n safety tsars ban jam sales at fetes” and “anger spreads over EU fines threat for reusing old jam jars”, “EU fine for homemade jam makers”. This is all completely untrue. There are no EU laws, new or old, which ban re-using old jam jars for fetes. The EU also has no powers to fine people.
There is indeed a body of EU food safety and hygiene legislation – notably so that the UK and other countries can be confident that food imported from or bought elsewhere in the EU is safe and of high quality. But these rules apply only to business operators and not to those preparing food for charity events such as church fetes or school bazaars.
What is more, the rules do not anyway ban re-using clean jam jars: the European Commission is not aware of any risk from chemicals related to this re-use.
Interestingly the Telegraph report of this comes in for commendation by the Commission:
The Daily Telegraph to its credit reported this properly on 7 October, saying that the Church of England had issued guidance and quoting the UK Food Safety Authority explaining that the interpretation of the regulations was the responsibility of local authorities, who would decide what constituted a “food business” and adding that “an occasional event, like a fund-raiser… would probably not be considered to be a food business.”
The Commission ends with:
None of the media who produced these seriously misleading stories contacted the European Commission first.
Big surprise.
Hat-tip: Tabloid Watch
Tags: Church Life, Law Moral Ethical
October 13th, 2012 at 6:41 am
Did you contact the http://www.cmainc.org.uk/ to see whether they did issue such a circular?
October 13th, 2012 at 8:06 am
According to this website a circular was indeed issued, but I can’t find a copy anywhere.
October 14th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I think what this sorry tale tells us is that we have to be so careful about believing so much that is written in these scandal and hate-mongering newspapers. If such care is taken to misrepresent a fairly trivial story, then I think we can safely assume that even greater care is taken to ensure any story is given a salacious or mischievous twist.
I would not even wipe my bottom with either the Daily Mail or The Daily Express – I suffer the Mail’s sister papers ‘The Metro’ and ‘The Evening Standard’ because they are free and easily picked up on tube or rail journeys in London, where I work; however even these papers are apt to mimic the maliciousness of their siblings. I think any decent person would be revolted by much of the twists and slants, purposefully put on many of the stories within these newspapers’ pages. Yet again and again, we see on sites such as ‘Anglicanmainstream’ or ‘The Christian Institute’ or even some bloggers, that the Daily Mail is frequently quoted as a ‘source’ for some of these sites’/blogs’ ‘true’ stories – which in itself speaks volumes about any real care for verisimilitude.
In truth these papers pander to what people who are either too stupid to think for themselves or too, selfish, cold and callous to think of the wider picture and another’s viewpoint, want to hear.
October 17th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
While completely agreeing with the ‘bunkum’ comments above, as a food safety officer, I feel I should point out that it is not strictly correct that : ‘ these rules apply only to business operators and not to those preparing food for charity’. If you regularly make jams, cakes etc, even for charity, you will still be bound by food safety legistation. This basically requires that your products be safe.You may also need to register (this is free) as a home caterer. I suggest you check with your local Environmental Health Department if you are in any doubt.
November 8th, 2012 at 12:12 am
AmericanHealthJournal is seeking partner websites in the health care field. AmericanHealthJournal is a health care site which owns 3000+ of high quality health videos. We are seeking partners who may be interested in featuring our content. We can offer content exchanges, link exchanges, and exposure to your site. Come contact us at our contact form on our site.