I got in a really, really silly argument with my lovely girlfriend a number of weeks ago…an argument about jam.
You see, I have a proclivity for Smucker’s Black Raspberry Jam which, for some reason or another, Amanda insists is not actually jam. In her world, apparently, the fruit product in question must contain seeds in order to be jam.
We insisted at one another that the product either was (my position) or was not (her position) certainly jam. Finally, because I am a pedant, I declared that there was likely a law about it. I wanted to be wrong, but I knew that the FDA would never let something as important as the labeling of fruit spreads to go unregulated. And, lo, 21 CFR 150 — FRUIT BUTTERS, JELLIES, PRESERVES, AND RELATED PRODUCTS.
This is the sort of world in which we live. Whether or not you’re allowed to make apple-pear jam is regulated by the federal government. The way in which you must label said jam, if you are even allowed to produce it, is regulated by the federal government. The ingredients and disclosure of same are, you guessed it, regulated by the federal government. Jumpin’ Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.
