How to read a honey label
Some words on a honey jar are legally defined. Most of the prominent ones are not, and the difference is not signposted anywhere on the packaging.
Buying and storingReviewed 2026-08-02
Words that mean something
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Honey | Legally defined. Nothing may be added and nothing removed except by permitted filtering. Anything sold as honey is honey. |
| Filtered honey | Pollen has been removed. Under EU rules this must be declared, and such honey cannot carry a floral or regional origin claim. |
| Baker's honey / industrial honey | A defined lower grade for manufacturing use — it may have a foreign taste, be fermented, or be overheated. Must be labelled for industrial use only. |
| Country of origin | Required. 'Blend of EU and non-EU honeys' is a legal formula and it tells you nothing useful, which is itself informative. |
| Protected designation (PDO / PGI) | A real, auditable scheme tied to a defined area and method. Miel de Provence and Miele di Corbezzolo among others. |
| UMF / MGO on manuka | MGO states a methylglyoxal concentration in mg/kg. UMF also tests markers of authenticity and freshness. Both are checkable numbers; the bare word manuka is not. |
Words that mean nothing much
- Pure. Every honey sold lawfully is pure honey by definition. The word distinguishes a jar from nothing at all.
- Natural. No agreed definition in this context. Compatible with pasteurisation, ultrafiltration and multi-country blending.
- Raw. No legal definition in most markets, including the EU and the US. Meaningful from a beekeeper who will explain what they did; marketing on a supermarket jar.
- Unfiltered. Better than 'raw' in that it points at something checkable, but there is no threshold and coarse straining also counts.
- Premium, artisan, traditional, hand-crafted. Nothing.
What to look for instead
- A named apiary, beekeeper or single farm. The strongest available signal, because it makes someone accountable.
- A single named country, and better still a region.
- A named floral source — with the caveat that this is a dominance claim, not a purity one.
- A harvest year or batch number. Rare, and a good sign where present.
- A price that makes sense. Honey substantially cheaper than the cost of production somewhere in the chain is not what it says it is.
And the practical shortcut: buy from a local beekeeper. It solves origin, processing, traceability and freshness in one step, it is usually cheaper than an imported monofloral, and you can ask them what they did.
Sources
- Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey — Council of the European Union (2001) · Regulatory guidance Link
- Standard for Honey (CXS 12-1981) — Codex Alimentarius Commission, FAO/WHO (1981) · Standards document Link
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Read next
Tools that use this
- Honey finder
Which honey should I buy for what I actually want to do with it?
- Flavour selector
I like this taste — which honeys have it?
- Honey comparison
How do these honeys actually differ, beyond colour?