Ethical Consumer

Ethical Consumer

Ethical buyer's guide to jam

   

This is a free buyer's guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. We research the social and environmental records of companies.

 

Download this buyer's guide as a Research Report pdf which contains a more detailed ratings table, plus all the company stories behind the ratings and details of company ownership. See bottom of page to order for £3 and view a sample research report.
 

Or subscribe to Ethiscore - our premium online shopping guide and get unlimited access to all of our buyer's guides, daily updated scores and ratings that you can change to reflect your own values.

   

Best Buys as of February 2006

As our ratings are constantly updated, it is possible that these companies will not always come out top on the Ethiscore table.

Locally-produced jam will always be a good option - particularly organic jams. Biona fruit spreads and Traidcraft (0191 491 0591) Fairtrade and organic jams are best buys.

Links

Brand
Rating
Biona fruit spread [O]16
Traidcraft jam [F,O]15.5
Meridian organic fruit spread [O]13.5
Tiptree organic jam [O]13.5
Streamline organic jam [O]13
Duerr's Fairtrade jam [F]12.5
Meridian fruit spread12.5
Tiptree jam12.5
Whole Earth fruit spreads [O]12.5
Streamline jam12
Duerr's jam11.5
Baxter's jam10.5
Gales Lemon Curd7
Hartley's jam7
Weight Watcher's jam7

The ratings on this scorecard were last updated from our database at www.ethiscore.org on 22 May 2008. The higher the rating, the more ethical the brand.

It could be sweet

Jam-making may conjure up images of rural idylls, but Lindsay Whalen finds that it's not always that way.

There has been a flurry of activity in the organic and fair trade arenas. So is all this choice good?

Critics have argued that it's environmental madness to import foods that we can produce in the UK, such as fruit for preserves and honey, from the other side of the world. The resulting pollution adds to the menace of global warming. But what if we are also similarly concerned with the plight of impoverished producers in the Third World?

Cutting edge environmental thinking suggests that if we're to manage climate change equitably in the long-term, then everybody on the planet should be given an equal right to pollute, by giving them a fairly distributed carbon ration.


Fairtrade, organic or local?

This means that consumers wishing to support workers in the Third World can ignore the food miles issue and look out for brands that carry the Fairtrade mark.

Companies offering Fairtrade products are indicated by an F next to the brand name in the table. The Fairtrade label only applies to suppliers from the Third World. Therefore, honey and fruit preserves travelling from places like Australia, the US and New Zealand should probably be avoided. Consumers wishing to support regional producers can buy honey and preserves locally or from local farmers markets.


Jam

Fruit picking is characterised by temporary contracts, long hours, low wages and poor health due to inadequate training in pesticide use. Making your own preserves, from fruit you've grown, using Fairtrade sugar, is one of the most ethical options. Simple recipes can be knocked up using fruit, sugar and a largish pan. If you make your own, you can restrict the amount of sugar as well. The fruit to sugar ratio for traditional jams is 450g (1lb) sugar to 450d (1lb) fruit.(1) High levels of sugar are linked to obesity, heart and liver disease, diabetes and tooth decay.(2) There is also some evidence that sugar can cause mood swings, hyperactivity and poor concentration in children.(3) The fruit spreads offered by Biona, Meridian and Whole Earth do not contain any added sugar or other sweetener.

Pesticide residues have been found in almost half of the UK's fresh fruit. The World Wildlife Fund claims that "orange production requires more intensive use of pesticides than any other major crops."(6) Most of the residues will be confined to the peel, but this may be a worry if you're a fan of marmalade.(6) One solution to this problem is organic jams. Companies offering organic preserves are indicated by an O next to the brand name in the table. FO next to the brand means that a Fairtrade organic certified product is available.


Packaging

The best environmental option will be to buy spreads in glass jars. Most of the companies who responded to our request for information used some recycled glass content in their jars.


Animal Issues

The issue of gelatin in jam has been given the elbow. The Vegetarian Society were not aware of any jams or preserves in the UK containing gelatin.(7)


References

1 'Jam, jellies and chutneys,' BBC Food, www.bbc.co.uk viewed 13/1/06
2 'Sweet Smell of Excess,' The Ecologist 11/03
3 �What not to feed your child,' The Observer 10/4/05
4 'Response to the Policy Commission on the Future of Food and Farming,' Friends of the Earth 10/01
5 Vegan Society website, viewed 11/1/06
6 'Is it ok ... to drink orange juice?' The Guardian 10/1/06
7Conversation with Vegetarian Society representative 13/1/06
8 Food Magazine: No 71 2005
9 Greenpeace Shoppers Guide to GM, www.greenpeace.org 4/1/06
10 ENDS Report, 369 10/05



   

Download the Jam, Marmalade and Honey report in PDF format for £3. This research report pdf contains a more detailed ratings table, plus all the company stories behind the ratings and details of company ownership.

See a sample pdf report.

 


 

   

 Ethical Consumer is a not-for-profit, workers' co-operative founded in 1989.

 

You can help us track and expose mulitnational companies. Support Ethical Consumer - subscribe, donate or buy a research report (above).

 

Subscribe to Ethical Consumer magazine - get buyer's guides six months ahead, plus in-depth analysis and critical discussion on ethical consumerism.

 

Subscribe to Ethiscore - your daily updated online shopping guide 

 

Compare All Products

 

Donate to Ethical Consumer and support independent research.

 

Thank you for your support!

 

   

1 comments so far...

It Should Be Sweet

Your piece on jam seems to be forgetting the reason for the sugar: it's original purpose was to preserve: not to sweeten - hence the name. If manufacturers could have got away with putting less of this one time expensive commodity in, they would have done. 'Fruit spreads' are therefore, not an alternative to proper jam, as they will quickly go off once the jar is opened (unless they are filled with artificial preservatives!).

Those wishing to make 'healthier' alternatives of their own, will, therefore, have to bear in mind that if they go down the 'low sugar' route, they will not have a preserve at the end, and it will not last long in the normal 'jam mode of use' of dipping out the odd knifeful when the fancy takes you.

If you really want a lower sugar alternative that is still preserved, you can try pickling your fruit in sweetened vinegar. I once preserved a large 'sweetie' jar full of gooseberries that way, and was amazed at how wonderful both they and the vinegar tasted, and how much this improved and matured over the couple of years I managed to eke them out. The steeping vinegar actually made quite a good cordial in its own right, and when I finally ran out, this was sorely missed!

Steve Hawkins, Luton, by email

By EC Letters Editor on   07/05/2008 12:13

Add your own comments on this report...


Your name:
Title:
Comment:
Security Code
Enter the code shown above in the box below
Add Comment    Cancel  
   

 
The Phone Co-op
ethiscore
Co-operative Bank
Triodos Bank