As of June 1, coffee containing barley, acorns, peas and chickpeas or any other additives, even in traces, will be allowed to be labelled and sold as coffee.
The new regulation, which will come into force in a week, stipulates a strict definition of what can be called “coffee” in Serbia. If coffee contains additives, that will have to be clearly specified on the package.
Today, there are quite a lot of products that are sold as coffee but do not contain 100% coffee. As of June 1st, that will change because only those products made exclusively from coffee beans will be allowed to be labelled as “coffee”.
Although the relevant regulation has been adopted more than a year ago, it has only now come into effect. The regulation clearly states that only real coffee can be called “coffee” and that if contains additives, that must be clearly stated on the packaging.
For example, if the content of roasted ground coffee in the blend is more than 50 per cent, the product will be called, for instance, a “coffee-based product with barley.” If the coffee content is less than 50 per cent, such a product shall be called a “barley-based product with coffee”.
This information will have to be clearly displayed on the front of the package. The regulation also defines what is considered a coffee substitute: barley, rye, wheat, barley malt and malt of other cereals, chicory root and carob.
All coffee producers in Serbia, 460 in total including large companies but also small roasters, had 18 months to comply with the law.
(Kurir, 24.05.2022)
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