Premier is out of a jam after sell-off to the Americans

The great British breakfast table will never be the same again after a swath of the country's best-loved jams, marmalades and spreads were yesterday sold to an American food group.

Hartley's and Robertson's jams, Frank Cooper and Keiller marmalades, Gale's honey and Sun-Pat peanut butter have been sold by debt-laden Premier Foods to Hain Celestial for £200m.

These classic accompaniments to morning toast follow the likes of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, Weetabix, Sarson's vinegar and Cadbury's Dairy Milk, which have been snapped up by foreign buyers in recent years.

Premier said that the deal takes the total raised by sales of its non-core businesses to £275m, putting it well on the way to its target of £330m by the end of 2014.

Hain Celestial will take over a factory at Histon near Cambridge, which produces most of the spreads and employs 380 people.