Two years have passed since Spanish jam, juice, and condensed milk producers began adjusting to the new rules known as the breakfast directives. Published on Friday in the Official Journal of the European Union, these reforms aim, among other things, to reduce added sugars in these products. The changes also affect honey packaging, which must now include more detailed origin information. The goal is to implement the Farm to Fork strategy, which Brussels expects will steer European diets toward greater health and sustainability. Reducing sugar overconsumption is a central objective in this effort.
The directive emphasizes that consumer information should be clearer and more efficient. This assessment comes from Javier Valle, secretary general of the Spanish association of Juice and Gazpacho producers, an industry group with annual sales around 2 billion euros, a large portion of which comes from exports. The EU text introduces a new category for juice with reduced sugar, a product that must meet all essential physical, chemical, organoleptic, and nutritional characteristics to qualify as a quality juice. However, this category is still at the laboratory and research stage, and it can be called so only if it reaches full market availability in the future.
One of the changes impacting the juice sector most is labeling. From now on, buyers must be informed that the product contains only sugars naturally present in fruit. Producers had requested a simpler approach and labels that indicate no added sugars, a standard already regulated since 2016 that distinguishes juices from nectars or fruit drinks.
Foodwatch, an international NGO, criticized the Brussels solution as potentially misleading since all sugar listed as present is