Conserve or Preserve what's the difference...

We have just got back home from doing our shop at our local Mr T and while we were walking down the jam isle a gentleman with a jar of jam in each hand stopped me to ask if I knew the difference between a Conserve and a Preserve jam.I wasn't too sure so called Mr. K over and asked him the same question but he had no idea either.

All three of us spent a couple of minutes reading the back of the labels because I wasn't sure if it was anything to do with the quantity of sugar to jam ratio,and although one jar had something like 55% fruit as opposed to 58% fruit for exactly the same type of fruit used they both had exactly the same amount of sugar per 100 grms?Even two jars with Conserve written on the labels looked exactly the same although the labels were a different colour

I wondered if it was anything to do with the process of making the jams,but as this chaps wife had told him to get a Conserve jam we told hint to do just that so that he wouldn't be in the wrong

Before I Google the answer I was just wondering if many of our cooks out there would know the answer as it has now got me thinking.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

Thanks for you quick reply Loofah

We did all try to look at the fruit inside the jars but just couldn't see any difference as the fruit was so tightly packed in the jars

I did say to the chap that if I had one of those expensive all singing all dancing telephone then I could have just Googled the answer as we stood in the isle,but like us he was of the slightly older generation who just have the old fashioned sort

 

If Mrs Scrungee can't get jam to set she labels it conserve.