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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Jam too sweet?

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  • From: Michael Dossett <phainopepla@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Jam too sweet?
  • Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 11:35:15 -0700 (PDT)

Unfortunately, bleaching the strawberries and then adding red dye to make them an even color is an all too common practice.  Not all the jam companies do this, but many if not most do.  I think part of it depends on where the berry comes from and what variety it is too.  A lot of the jam processors use California strawberries.  The growers there make their real money on the berries from the first and second pick for the fresh market because of their size.  I can't remember what the price was that way but I want to say it was around 75 cents a pound.  The tertiary and quaternary berries on each raceme are smaller and are almost worthless to them so they dump them on the processing market for around 19 cents a pound just to get a little something for them.  A lot of the jam and yogurt etc. processors use these berries because of the cost.
 
Oregon and Washington strawberries, in part because of climate and in part because of genetics, have good color throughout the fruit, i.e. they aren't white inside like California ones.  They are also darker red than the strawberries from the eastern half of the US.  A few processors still like these berries in part because of flavor but also in part because of the color so they don't have to add the dyes etc.  Unfortunately because of a shorter season and higher labor costs our growers can barely make a go of it at 50 cents a pound for a processing berry which means that the acreage here in the Pacific Northwest has been steadily shrinking.  It is basically because of the few remaining processors here that the strawberry breeding programs in Oregon and Washington place a large emphasis on selecting for fruit color both internally and externally before a new variety gets released.
 
Michael
 
Michael Dossett Corvallis, Oregon www.Mdossettphoto.com phainopepla@yahoo.com

--- On Mon, 3/9/09, Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Jam too sweet?
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009, 10:51 AM


We like our jam made with the Certo lite which uses significantly less sugar than fruit proportion wise which is not the case with regular pectin jam recipes.

Friends of ours recently bought 10 acres that was set up as a market garden raising small fruits and herbs by the former owners.  They intended to plow most of it under (I know, that hurts!) as their kids "didn't like jam".  Last time we talked to them: they are keeping most of the fruiting things as they discovered that their kids love homemade jam! 

My uncle used to work in a jam factory (back in the 60-70's) and he told us that before turning strawberries into jam, the factory first bleached the berries and then dyed them uniformly red.  I hope they don't do that now, but some of the stuff out there tastes like they do!

Jim, I'm sure your jam, higher in sugar or not, tastes better than that store bought commercially prepared stuff because your fruit is better quality than mass produced fruit!

Sarah


> Sarah from Edmonton, AB, said, "I
> found some Cloudberry jam at Ikea and,
> aside from being too sweet like almost all commercial
> jams...................."
>
>     Are your grocery store jellies and jams too
> sweet?  It is the law here
> in the United States and, I suspect, in Canada too. 
> The law states that
> jelly, jam and preserves must contain 65 brix (% solids,
> including sugar).
> If they contain less than that it is illegal to use the
> words "Jelly", "Jam"
> or "Preserves."  Use of those words in a product less
> than 65 brix is
> considered fraud and is punishable as such.  These
> laws apply only to
> products that are purchased for resale.  These are
> part of the consumer
> protection laws.
>     Sugar is a preservative.  If bacteria
> were to be introduced into these
> products, the bacteria would be killed via osmosis; this is
> why we have the
> law(s).
>     Fruit spreads that do not meet the above
> criteria must use other
> terminology (eg. "Spread") and may be preserved in other
> ways.
>
> Jim Fruth
> Brambleberry Farm
> Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
> For jams, jellies, syrups and more:
> www.jellygal.com
> 1-877-265-6856 (Toll Free)
> 1-218-831-7018 (My Cell)



     

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