Reports that the UK may be forced to rename marmalade under a post-Brexit food deal with the EU have been dismissed by the government as unnecessary alarm. The Daily Mail led the charge with a story claiming Prime Minister Keir Starmer's 'breakfast reset' would require the traditional preserve to be relabelled as 'citrus marmalade'.
The BBC reported that as part of a planned food deal, the UK is considering aligning with EU naming rules that allow all conserves to be marketed as marmalade, provided the fruit type is specified. This would mean citrus-based conserves being labelled 'citrus marmalade'. However, the government insists this is not a new requirement.
A government spokesperson said: 'British marmalade is not changing. There is no requirement for retailers or producers to relabel orange marmalade as “citrus marmalade”, and jars on UK shelves will remain exactly as they are today.' They added that many British manufacturers already meet international labelling standards voluntarily to sell overseas, and the deal simply cuts red tape.
The controversy stems from EU rules dating back to the 1970s, when the UK successfully lobbied for only orange conserve to be called marmalade. After Brexit, the EU relaxed its rules to allow all conserves to be marketed as marmalade, as is common in many European languages. The current proposal would extend existing Windsor agreement provisions from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.
Former home secretary Priti Patel accused Labour of 'attacking the great British marmalade', but the government pointed out that the rules were originally agreed by the Conservative government in 2023. A government source noted that marmalade on UK shelves is already typically labelled as 'orange marmalade' or 'Seville orange marmalade', which complies with the EU rules.
