Fruit Juices and Similar Products (Amendment) Regulations, 2026

L.N. 72 of 2026

FOOD SAFETY ACT

(CAP. 449)

Fruit Juices and Similar Products (Amendment) Regulations, 2026

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 10 of the Food

Safety Act, the Minister responsible for food has made the following

regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Fruit Juices and

Similar Products (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 and these

commencement.

regulations shall be read and construed as one with the Fruit Juices and

Similar Products Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the "principal

regulations".

(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose Directive

(EU) 2024/1438 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14

May 2024 amending Council Directives 2001/110/EC relating to

honey, 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products

intended for human consumption, 2001/113/EC relating to fruit jams,

jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for

human consumption, and 2001/114/EC relating to certain partly or

wholly dehydrated preserved milk for human consumption.

(3)

These regulations shall come into force on the 14th of June

2026.

Immediately after regulation 1.2 of the principal

regulations there shall be added the following new regulation

"1.3. These regulations also transpose the provisions

of Directive 2024/1438/EU of the European Parliament and

of the Council amending Council Directive 2001/112/EC

relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended

for human consumption.".

Immediately after regulation 2.4 of the principal

regulations there shall be added the following new regulation

"2.5. Products which are placed on the market or labelled

before 14 June 2026 in accordance with Directive 2001/112/EC

relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for

human consumption may continue to be marketed until the

exhaustion of stocks.".

Regulation 4.1 of the principal regulations shall be Amends

regulation 4.1 of

amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a) in regulation 4.1 thereof the words "The Labelling,

Presentation and Advertising of Food stuffs Regulations shall

apply to the products defined in the First Schedule, subject to the

following conditions:" shall be substituted by the words

"Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and

of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food

information to consumers applies to the products defined in the

First Schedule, subject to the following conditions:";

(b) sub-regulation 4.1.1(b) thereof shall be substituted by

the following new sub-regulation

"

(b) As an alternative to the product names

referred to in paragraph (a), the Third Schedule provides a

list of particular designations. Where an operator uses the

designations listed in Part I of the Third Schedule, the said

denominations shall be used in the language and under the

conditions stipulated therein. With regard to the

designations listed in Part II of the Third Schedule, the

Food Safety and Security Authority may stipulate that such

designations shall be used in one or more of the official

languages of the Union.";

(c)

sub-regulation 4.1.4 thereof shall be substituted by

the following new sub-regulation

"4.1.4. The statement "fruit juices contain only

naturally occurring sugars" may appear on the label in the

same field of vision as the name of the products referred to

in point 1 of Part I of the First Schedule.";

(d)

sub-regulation 4.1.6 thereof shall be substituted by

the following new sub-regulation

"4.1.6. Without prejudice to Article 22 of Regulation

(EU) No. 1169/2011 for mixtures of fruit juice from

concentrate or reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate

with fruit juice or with reduced-sugar fruit juice, as well as

for fruit nectar obtained entirely or partly from one or more

concentrated products, the labelling shall bear the words

"from concentrate(s)" or "partially from concentrate(s)", as

appropriate. Such information shall be entered close to the

product name, standing out well from any background, in

clearly visible characters.".

Regulation 5.1 of the principal regulations shall be

substituted by the following new regulation

"5.1. Only the treatments and substances listed in Part II of

the First Schedule and the raw materials complying with the

Second Schedule may be used to manufacture the products

defined in Part I of the First Schedule. Moreover, fruit nectars

shall comply with the Fourth Schedule.".

The First Schedule of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

Part I thereof shall be amended as follows

(i) item 1(b) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new item

"(b) The product obtained by reconstituting

concentrated fruit juice as defined in point 2 with

potable water that meets the criteria established in

Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020

on the quality of water intended for human

consumption (recast).";

(ii) immediately after item 5 thereof there shall be

added the following new items

"6(a) Reduced-sugar fruit juice.

The product obtained from fruit juice as

defined in point 1(a) where the amount of

naturally occurring sugars has been reduced by

at least thirty per cent (30%) by using a process

authorised under the conditions stipulated in

point 3 of Part II which maintains all the other

essential physical, chemical, organoleptic and

nutritional characteristics of an average type of

juice of the fruit which it is derived

Provided that reduced-sugar fruit juice

may be obtained by mixing reduced-sugar fruit

juice with fruit juice, fruit purée or both.

(b) Reduced-sugar

fruit

juice

from

concentrate.

The product obtained from fruit juice

from concentrate as defined in point 1(b) where

the amount of naturally occurring sugars has

been reduced by at least thirty per cent (30%)

by using a process authorised under the

conditions stipulated in point 3 of Part II which

maintains all the other essential physical,

chemical,

organoleptic

and

nutritional

characteristics of an average type of juice of the

fruit from which it is derived, or the product

obtained by reconstituting concentrated

reduced-sugar fruit juice as defined in point 7

with potable water that meets the criteria

established in Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 16

December 2020 on the quality of water intended

for human consumption (recast)

Provided that reduced-sugar fruit juice

from concentrate may be obtained by mixing

reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate with

one or more of the following products: fruit

juice, fruit juice from concentrate, reduced-

sugar fruit juice, concentrated fruit purée and

fruit purée.

Concentrated reduced-sugar fruit juice.

The product obtained from concentrated

fruit juice as defined in point 2 where the

amount of naturally occurring sugars has been

reduced by at least thirty per cent (30%) by

using a process authorised under the conditions

stipulated in point 3 of Part II which maintains

all the other essential physical, chemical,

organoleptic and nutritional characteristics of

an average type of product, or the product

obtained from reduced-sugar fruit juice as

defined in point 6(a) by the physical removal of

a specific proportion of its water content.

Where the product is intended for direct

consumption, the removal shall be at least fifty

per cent (50%) of the water content.";

(b)

Part II thereof shall be amended as follows

(i)

in item 2 thereof;

- the words "Food additives authorised in

accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008;"

shall be substituted by the words "Food additives

authorised in accordance with Regulation (EC) No

1333/2008; however, sweeteners shall not be

permitted in the manufacture of the products listed in

Part I of this Schedule, except for fruit nectars;";

- the words "For fruit juice, fruit juices from

concentrate and concentrated fruit juices: restored

flavour, pulp and cells;" shall be substituted by the

words "For fruit juice, fruit juice from concentrate,

concentrated fruit juice, reduced-sugar fruit juice,

reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate and

concentrated reduced-sugar fruit juice: restored

flavour, pulp and cells;";

- the words "For fruit nectars: restored flavour,

pulp and cells; sugars and/or honey up to 20% of the

total weight of the finished products; and/or

sweeteners;" shall be substituted by the words "For

fruit nectars: restored flavour, pulp and cells; sugars

and, or honey up to twenty per cent (20%) of the total

weight of the finished products referred to in Part I of

the Fourth Schedule, fifteen per cent (15%) of the

total weight of the finished products referred to in

Part II of the Fourth Schedule and ten per cent (10%)

of the total weight of the finished products referred to

in Part III of the Fourth Schedule; and, or

sweeteners;";

- the words "If sugars are naturally present in

fruit nectar, the following indication should also

appear on the label: "contains naturally occurring

sugars";" shall be substituted by the words "Where

such a claim is made, the following indication shall

also appear on the label: "contains naturally occurring

sugars":";

- the words "For products defined in points 1 to

5 of Part I, in order to regulate acidic taste: lemon

and/or lime juice and/or concentrated lemon and/or

lime juice, up to 3 g per litre of juice, expressed as

anhydrous citric acid;" shall be substituted by the

words "For products defined in points 1 to 7 of Part I,

in order to regulate acidic taste: lemon and, or lime

juice and, or concentrated lemon and, or lime juice,

up to 3g per litre of juice, expressed as anhydrous

citric acid;";

- immediately after the last item thereof there

shall be added the following new item

"-

For reduced-sugar fruit juice and reduced-

sugar fruit juice from concentrate: water, to the extent

strictly necessary to restore the water lost due to the

sugar reduction process.";

(ii) immediately after the last item of item 3

thereof there shall be added the following new sub-

items

"- Plant proteins from wheat, peas, potatoes or

sunflower seeds for clarification.

- Only for reduced-sugar fruit juice, reduced-

sugar fruit juice from concentrate and concentrated

reduced-sugar fruit juice: processes to reduce the

amount of naturally occurring sugars, to the extent

that they maintain all the other essential physical,

chemical, organoleptic and nutritional characteristics

of an average type of juice of the fruit which it comes

from, namely membrane filtration and yeast

fermentation.".

7. The Third Schedule to the principal regulations shall be Substitutes the

Third Schedule

substituted by the following new Schedule

to the principal

regulations.

"THIRD SCHEDULE

Particular Designations for Certain Products Listed in the First Schedule

Particular designations that may be used only in the

language of the designation

(a)

"vruchtendrank", for fruit nectars;

(b) "Süßmost", to be used only in conjunction with

the product names "Fruchtsaft" or "Fruchtnektar"

(i) for fruit nectar obtained exclusively from

fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices or a mixture of

these products, unpalatable in the natural state

because of their high natural acidity;

(ii)

for fruit juice obtained from apples or

from pears, with the addition of apples where

appropriate, but with no added sugar;

(c) "succo e polpa" or "sumo e polpa", for fruit

nectars obtained exclusively from fruit purée and, or

concentrated fruit purée;

(d)

(i)

"æblemost", synonym of apple juice;

(ii) "æblemost fra koncentrat", synonym of

apple juice from concentrate;

(e) (i) "sur … saft", together with the name (in

Danish) of the fruit used, for juices with no added sugar

obtained from blackcurrants, cherries, redcurrants, white

currants, raspberries, strawberries or elderberries,

(ii) "sød … saft" or "sødet … saft" together

with the name (in Danish) of the fruit used, for juices

obtained from this fruit, with more than 200g of

added sugar per litre;

(f)

"äppelmust/äpplemust",

synonym

of

apple

juice;

(g)

"mosto", synonym of grape juice;

(h) "smiltsērkšķu sula ar cukuru" or "astelpaju

mahl suhkruga" or "słodzony sok z rokitnika", for juices

obtained from sea buckthorn berries with not more than

140g of added sugar per litre.

II. Particular designations that may be used in one or

more of the official languages of the Union

(a) "coconut water", for the product which is

directly extracted from the coconut without expressing the

coconut meat, as a synonym of coconut juice.".

In Part I of the Fourth Schedule to the principal regulations

the word "Quinces" shall be substituted by the words "Quinces

(Cydonia oblonga L.)".

In the Fifth Schedule to the principal regulations Amends the

Schedule

immediately after item "Blackcurrant (*)" there shall be added the Fifth

to the principal

following new item

regulations.

"Coconut"

Cocos nucifera L.

4.5".

€0.72