Ban on re-using jam jars

[Ely]

I wish these sort of decisions were based on science and not just thrown in their by some feeble worrying brain dead pen pusher. Glass can be and is sterilised. Where is the problem? It wouldn't surprise me if a few years down the line we find out planet of the apes is a true story, the world does seem to be run by morons and their thoughts rather than scientific decisions.

 

[peter genders]

honey jars re use.

From april the first 2014 new Eu. rule this will also apply to tea cups and beer glasses.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Never mind, guys and gals.


I gather from the Church Times that Women's Institute is all fired up about it.

Once we get the Mother's Union on board, Europe will be mincemeat.


Dusty

 

[Into the lions den]

Glad to see the thread gets the point in the end. We NEVER reused glass jars when packing honey as the risk was just so much greater than fresh glass of known origin.

This came to a head with glass shards being found in jars of honey. The jar looked perfect, but the guy involved did indeed take jars back from customers and washed and dried them with great care. he was quite proud of the eco friendliness (before such a term was even used) and the money saved (though in a business setting it is usually more expensive to clean and sterilise than buy new with honey jars). His product was excellent, looked great, and sold well.

Then there was a claim from a consumer with a cut mouth. Then after a while another, Local EHO investigates and finds out about the reused glass. I was shown the problem and it is a real one too.

When you wash jars for reuse in a small scale setting it is common for them to chink against eachother. The jars can look perfect, but small introduced defects in the thread area are very hard to spot. Small edges and pieces of thread pattern sometimes then come detached and can end up in the honey. Sorry for those who think it an unreasonable intrusion, but it DOES happen, and these are increasingly litigious times.

The point also made about you never know what the person returning the glass may have had in it is oh so true. If they have had jam in the jar (and I have seen people put anything from old cooking oil to urine in them, wash them and think them good as new) then no matter how clean you wash it it gives taint to the next think in there. An extreme example is to wash out a jar that has had any product with a smell to it, say rasp jam, then fill it with dry white sugar ad put the lid on. Go back after a week and open it. You will smell the jam.

 

[Into the lions den]

Also, please note that most jars are made with a glass quality called white flint. It is a one use only grade. It is perfectly possible to made reuseable glass and they do indeed do so in Denmark and other places. However it is a different grade of glass with a bit more resilience to normal handling, whereas white flint is more brittle and is not really safe to reuse in any setting where you might be sued.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ah I remember when we had the milk round - all those inconsiderate people kept insisting we take away the empty bottles they left outside every morning and expecting us to reuse them - so we had to - it caused no end of grief nothing but trouble on a regular basis: miners dying in the streets on their way to work after their breakfast of bara the (a bowl of bread with tea poured on top) as if they didn't have enough to worry about toiling away in the bowels of the earth-
B*****KS

 

[Into the lions den]

Milk bottles were and still are (when you can find them) made from the reuseable type of glass. They are relatively safe to reuse. Its a considerably more expensive grade of glass.

 

[Luminos]

Never mind, guys and gals.


I gather from the Church Times that Women's Institute is all fired up about it.

Once we get the Mother's Union on board, Europe will be mincemeat.


Dusty

...will that be mincemeat in recycled jars??

 

[victor meldrew]

I use new jars, which I wash and heat sterilise !
As regards chinking together thus creating shards on inner surfaces, I'd better tell my customers that the rule now is one jar per customer as if I were to sell two, they may chink them together, get a cut mouth and sue me
VM

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

Also, please note that most jars are made with a glass quality called white flint. It is a one use only grade. It is perfectly possible to made reuseable glass and they do indeed do so in Denmark and other places. However it is a different grade of glass with a bit more resilience to normal handling, whereas white flint is more brittle and is not really safe to reuse in any setting where you might be sued.

The problem with this line of thought of course is that it applies to FOOD PRODUCTION by larger or smaller COMPANIES. Which is fine. But even here with all the traceability, bar codes, etc you still get a steady stream of errors such as the dead mouse in the Tesco sandwich. Or the chard of glass in the honey jar.

Question is does the old lady making jam for the Church bazaar, production 10 jars per year, need to be covered by these regulations? She could send off to Th**** or Paines for her jars but I have yet to have a delivery arrive in one piece and usually the whole consignment is littered with shards of glass which have to be cleaned out of the jars. They certainly do not arrive clean and so have to be washed in the dishwasher where they receive more chips and shards.

So is buying use once and destroy jars from a supplier really safer?

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

...will that be mincemeat in recycled jars??

I think were you to sell such mincemeat you would be in big trouble. Minced Eurocrat is not a recognised food stuff in the Eurozone though I understand that in certain parts of the UK such as Essex it is considered a great delicacy.

 

[user 6228]

Milk bottles were and still are (when you can find them) made from the reuseable type of glass. They are relatively safe to reuse. Its a considerably more expensive grade of glass.

Murray, stop interrupting a good rant with inconsquential irrelevencies





i.e. facts

 

[Hivemaker.]

She could send off to Th**** or Paines for her jars but I have yet to have a delivery arrive in one piece and usually the whole consignment is littered with shards of glass which have to be cleaned out of the jars. They certainly do not arrive clean and so have to be washed in the dishwasher where they receive more chips and shards.

If they arrive like you describe then you need to bin them,same if they come out of your dishwasher in that condition.

 

[busybee53]

DAF. Now wots all this about Essex?

 

[busybee53]

P.S. I am vegetarian.

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

If they arrive like you describe then you need to bin them,same if they come out of your dishwasher in that condition.

We do and half the consignment ended up in my recycling bin this year. But then we are commercial and have to stick to the letter of the law.
Incidentally Paines in Sussex specifically say that all damage in transit is down to the receiver and they will not refund the difference. I did note that I got a lighter grade of glass from them as from Tkornes so I think I will go back to them next year, although we try and buy local.

 

[Der Alte Fritz]

DAF. Now wots all this about Essex?

With Norman Tebbit as an MP , Essex has a reputation for eating Eurocrats alive.
Good on you sir!

 

[dpearce4]

I would say forget buying from the likes of thones and paines for your glass jars. it is cheaper buy from specialists even taking into account the cost of carrage. As for Paines saying its down to the recipients then where is the customer service in that DUMP THEM not the glass.

A proper glass supplier will send them by couriers that know how to look after the product and if you want good prices then maybe team up with some others to get discount, they will give you really good prices when you do. I payed 26p per lb jar inc lid and delivery this year, Thons in their "sale" were 50p think of your extra profit if you get 1 gross of jars this way.

Quote from Jar suppliers website T&C:-

Rejected Goods
Customers who believe their order is damaged upon delivery must reject the goods with the courier at time of delivery. Upon the goods being returned to Compak for inspection damaged goods will be replaced immediately free of charge. If the goods are found not to be damaged, the customer will be charged for the redelivery.

Claims
Shortages or rejections not apparent at the time of delivery must be digitally photographed and reported to the office within 3 working days upon receipt of goods. If Compak are held responsible for a claim we will replace the goods free of charge.

Refunds
If goods are not fit for the purpose as described we will refund the item in full. Refunds are paid to the account used to make the original payment.

Returns
Where goods have been supplied in accordance with the purchase order, but the customer finds the products to be unsuitable, the customer must contact Compak within 7 days of receipt to agree a return. Once agreement has been made, the customer may return the item(s) in the original packaging at their own expense. Upon receipt of the goods if they are in original condition a refund or exchange will be processed. Goods returned without prior agreement are liable for non-acceptance and will be held at the customer's risk. This does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

 

[REDWOOD]

If the jars where made of a better quality glass, a mark to say it's a honey jar in bedded into the glass and a deposit put on them then they would not get contaminated with turps and who knows what as customers would return them.

 

[PBee]

We do and half the consignment ended up in my recycling bin this year. But then we are commercial and have to stick to the letter of the law.
Incidentally Paines in Sussex specifically say that all damage in transit is down to the receiver and they will not refund the difference. I did note that I got a lighter grade of glass from them as from Tkornes so I think I will go back to them next year, although we try and buy local.

I get my jars, for the moment, from a distributor in Dublin. This year the specification changed without any notification. The jars were 20g lighter and slightly shorter which means they are slightly overfilled with 454g. He expressed bewilderment when I called about it and I found after researching the marks on the jars that the original was from one of the big British suppliers and the substitute was it seems from Eastern Europe. They are definitely more brittle and break easily compared to the old ones.