Standard of identity

Definition

Where a standard of identity exists, calling a product honey commits the seller to meeting it. The EU honey directive and the national instruments implementing it work this way. The United States is the significant exception among large markets: the FDA declined to set a federal standard of identity for honey and issued labelling guidance instead, so the applicable definition there can depend on the state.

Where the word gets used loosely

A voluntary grade is not a standard of identity. A USDA grade A on a jar records clarity, flavour, aroma and freedom from defects — it is not a statement that the contents meet a legal definition of honey, and heavily filtered honey grades well on clarity.

Guide records that discuss this

• US honey standardsThe United States regulates honey differently from Europe in one structural way: there is no binding federal standard of identity. Grading is voluntary, guidance is guidance, and the substantive action has been in trade enforcement.