If you think that only berries, sugar and a sterile container are used to make jam, you may be wrong, since this is not always the case. You can put a preservative in the jam and not worry if bacteria got there or not. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully read the composition of the product on the label. If you find a preservative there, then you need to think carefully about whether to purchase this jam. After all, there is a high probability that the plant does not observe sterility standards and does not monitor the quality of the berries. Real jam should contain only sugar and berries, technical regulations do not allow the use of any foreign impurities.
Any jam contains oxymethylfurfural. If consumed in large quantities, gastritis or liver disease can occur. Considered a potentially carcinogenic compound, it can accumulate and even lead to mutations in the body. There is no legal regulation on the permissible content of oxymethylfurfural in jam. This is due to the assumption that people do not consume large quantities of jam, which means that the likelihood of poisoning is minimal. However, if a small child eats a jar of jam, then an upset stomach, most likely, cannot be avoided.
The higher the temperature and the longer the heating process takes, the more oxymethylfurfural is present in the jam. Therefore, experts believe that jams and confitures are more preferable, since the manufacturing process for these products is much shorter than the preserves.
The most dangerous in terms of oxymethylfurfural content is homemade jam. Often, housewives cook it longer than they should: either they simply did not follow the time, or they deliberately cooked it longer so that the jam would be better stored. As a result, the content of the harmful substance may be too high. It must be remembered that the jam should be cooked for no more than an hour. If the product is burnt, you need to throw it away without regret, since the use of such jam is fraught with poisoning.
Preserves, jams or confitures?
Everyone has their own favorite product. However, not everyone knows exactly how they differ from each other. Jam is a dessert made from fruits and berries that have been cooked in sugar syrup. It is necessary that the syrup is liquid and transparent, and the berries remain whole and firm. Jam, like jam, is a dessert that is prepared using a jelly-forming substance, in most cases pectin. This product often contains citric acid to lighten the syrup. Jam is a type of jam, so they are extremely similar. The main feature of these desserts is boiled, chopped fruits or berries, which are difficult to separate from the thick, jelly-like syrup.
Jam and confiture for chefs are almost identical products. But for enterprises that produce them on an industrial scale, these are different things. However, according to the law, they became different only recently. The technical regulations that are currently in force in Russia contain information that jams and preserves should be made exclusively from natural products, and a number of chemical ingredients may be present in jams.
If in a store you see jam and confiture made from the same berries, it is better to give preference to the product called "Confiture", since it should not contain artificial additives.