Marmalade has long been a quintessential British preserve, with some recipes handed down between multiple generations.
But jars of the fruity spread could look a little different on shop shelves under the UK government’s planned EU food deal, it has emerged.
The breakfast favourite will have to be sold as “citrus marmalade” if the agreement goes ahead, when Britain will readopt new EU food regulations in a bid to boost trade and reduce red tape for British exporters.
The name change is required because Brussels is relaxing its labelling rules, widening the legal definition of marmalade across Europe for the first time.
A UK government spokesperson said on Friday that British marmalade was “not changing” and would remain the same product available in shops, adding the EU deal would support businesses by removing costly red tape.
But the naming rule laid a linguistic minefield that has been a source of friction with food regulators around Europe ever since.
In 2004, the EU agreed to relax the rule for producers selling fruity wares at farmers’ markets in Austria and Germany.
It has continued to flummox consumers in countries such as Spain and Italy, where “mermelada” and “marmellata” respectively are commonly used for spreads made from other kinds of fruit, such as plums and figs.
A German MEP who had been pushing for a change after Brexit told the BBC in 2017 that the naming rules were “contrary to German linguistic tradition”.
Now Brussels has updated its rules after the UK’s departure, allowing all EU countries to permit non-citrus spreads to be marketed as “marmalade” from June.