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Labelling of Honey

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The Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code defines honey, prescribes its composition and identifies the information that must be provided when labelling it for retail sale.

Definition

Standard 2.8.2 provides the following definition of honey:

The natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which honey bees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature.

Composition of honey

Standard 2.8.2 also stipulates the composition of honey should contain:

(a) No less than 60 % reducing sugars; and

(b) No more than 21 % moisture

Labelling Requirements

Part 1.2 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code sets out the information that must be provided on foods that are required to bear a label.

The label on a package of pure honey for retail sale must include the following general information:

  • Prescribed name of the product (i.e. honey)
  • Batch number
  • Name and business address of the supplier
  • Date marking
  • Nutrition labelling
  • Country of origin labelling (i.e, Kangaroo logo, percentage bar graph and explanatory text)

Where the product for sale includes ingredients other than honey, the label must also include a list of ingredients and may be required to carry a declaration of key or characterising ingredients and components and/or a percentage declaration. If the product is pure honey, an ingredient label is not mandatory. 

Legibility Requirements for Food Labels

Any information required in or on a food label needs to comply with legibility requirements. All food labels must present information so that it is legible, prominent and in English.

Glenn Locke from Orara Valley Honey has developed a great and simple guide for honey labelling requirements in Australia. 
https://oraravalleyhoney.com.au/honey-labelling/?fbclid=IwAR0OAspzlDDYuqZZ4HDNB45SVb3PDM5TU_S57y7opAhGie8k_XZPEp3kHAw 

For more information, please refer to the Food Standards Code for Australia and New Zealand. 
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/Pages/default.aspx