Fans of reduced oil mayo in SA are going to want to hear this … Last week the Department of Agriculture gazetted important changes to regulations governing mayonnaise and salad dressings in the country.
Specifically, the department wants to better clarify what qualifies as reduced oil mayo in SA. This gazette follows draft regulation amendments in 2023 around how much oil content there is in various mayonnaise and salad dressings.
REDUCED OIL MAYO IN SA
So, what’s going to change for reduced oil mayo in SA? We adhere to global standards of 25% to 39% oil or fat content as being reduced oil. However, some suppliers lobbied government to classify reduced oil content as 23% and below.
Therefore, this would have meant that many of the brands claiming reduced oil mayo in SA were no longer eligible. And the department did not adjust the regulations for fear of giving a handful of suppliers an unfair advantage in the market.
CHANGE OF APPROACH
However, a tightening of regulations will bring SA laws in line with those adopted back in 2023 by the World Trade Organisation. Therefore, under new regulations, mayonnaise and salad dressings will be defined by their edible oil content. As well as any acidifying agents like egg, milk, pea, soya and other additives.
As such, reduced oil mayo in SA drops from the current 25-39% to 22-39%. Note that conventional (non-reduced) mayo remains unchanged at 52% and over. Meanwhile, reduced oil salad cream must be 13%-18%, while reduced oil salad dressing/vinaigrette must contain just 0.5%-12% oil content.
NO MISLEADING CLAIMS OF REDUCED OIL MAYO IN SA
Moreover, the regulations want to reduce misrepresentation/misleading impressions for consumers. For example, products not intended to be used on salads, cannot be labelled with words such as ‘salad’, ‘mayonnaise’, ‘dressing’ or even words implying these words such as ‘mayo’. Therefore, they must be sold as ‘sauces’, ‘dip’ or ‘condiment’, etc …
Likewise, brands cannot use words such as ‘reduced’, ‘less than’, ‘light’ or ‘lite’ unless officially classified as reduced oil. The full regulation changes take effect one year from the gazette date, so Saturday 24 April 2027.
But what do you think? Do you like reduced oil mayo in SA or do you prefer conventional oily mayos and salad dressings for the taste? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below …
