Elizabeth II's favourite marmalade maker has relabelled one of its products because of Andy Burnham's EU reset deal.
Tiptree, which is owned by Wilkin & Sons, has renamed its "Three Fruits Marmalade" jars to "Orange, Lemon & Grapefruit" to ensure the product can still be stocked on supermarket shelves after the UK adopts EU food regulation.
The company, which was founded in 1885 and has held several royal warrants, made the name change several months ago based on its interpretation of the new rules.
But in a sign of the confusion about the reset deal, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insisted on Friday that the label change was not necessary because it already complied with the new rules.
It will fuel concerns that Britain's food industry has been left in the dark about whether it has to change product names to abide by Brussels' rules.
Tiptree's previous label did not state the types of fruit used in the marmalade , meaning it could have fallen foul of the bloc's regulations which require producers to specify the fruits used in preserves.
Marmalade, for example, must be called "citrus marmalade" to abide by the rules.
Chris Newenham, the managing director of Tiptree, said the company's interpretation of the EU rules had prompted the rebrand.
He said: "Our understanding of this legislation is that marmalades would either have to be labelled 'citrus marmalade', or labelled as marmalade with the name of the citrus fruit used i.e 'lemon marmalade', 'orange marmalade'.
"Upon reviewing the legislation, we found that we only needed to relabel one of our products. We have an outstanding team who are accustomed to dealing with the challenges of alignment."
Mr Newenham added that the relabelling process "had not been too disruptive" for the company because it exports to more than 70 countries and is "used to the complexity of label requirements".
The UK agreed to align with EU plant and animal health rules, including on labelling, to reduce post-Brexit border checks and certificates.
The food and drink aspects of the deal were agreed between the UK and the EU last year and will be ratified at Mr Burnham's "reset" summit in Brussels on Nov 20.
Vegetarian products with meaty names, such as smoky bacon crisps, may also be banned under European laws .
It means crisp manufacturers have to choose between changing their recipes, making them no longer suitable for vegetarians or altering the names of their classic flavours to remove references to any meat.
It comes amid growing frustration over the billions of pounds spent readying the UK for post-Brexit food checks that will be axed under Mr Burnham's agreement.
An estimated £4.7bn of taxpayer money has been spent on 13 border-related projects between 2019 and 2026, according to a report from the National Audit Office.
The public spending watchdog said the Government was estimated to have spent more than £500m on providing support to traders adapting to the post-Brexit rules that will now be axed.
British port owners demanded compensation this week for the millions spent on constructing border check facilities that will be rendered obsolete under Burnham's agreement with the EU.
A long history
Wilkin & Sons traces its roots back to 1757 when the founding family began farming in Tiptree, Essex.
Alongside producing jams and marmalades, Wilkin & Sons operate a chain of tea rooms in Essex and make a range of condiments including tomato sauce and mayonnaise.
The company was first awarded a royal warrant in 1911 by George V and has retained it from successive monarchs ever since.
Last year, the King and Queen visited the Essex Rose Tea House in Dedham to celebrate the company's 140 years of jam-making at Tiptree.
The late Queen visited its factory in 2010 to mark 125 years of jam making.
A Defra spokesman said: "Tiptree will not need to change its labels to sell this British classic.
"This deal supports exporters by cutting the unnecessary red tape with our largest market. We continue to support our producers to help understand and prepare ahead of any changes."
