2.1 UK Regulations for Honey Flashcards
Legal requirements for honey labelling
D N C B L W (size)
- Description of product, i.e honey, comb honey, chunk honey or honey used with another true or
geographical description - Name and address of producer. Person needs to be traceable.
- Country of origin. Product of the UK or Product of England
- Best before date. Two years is reasonable.
- Lot number. A batch of sales units produced under similar conditions. Not required if use dd/mm/yyyy in Best Before date. A record must be kept for each batch. Use L plus a code.
- Weight. Any weight is allowed. Weigh in gram designated by g. Size for 454 g jar is 4mm. Imperial units can be added but type no larger (1 lb) and must include metric as well.
5 of the legal requirements to which honey must conform
SMEFD&H
1 Sugar content 2 Moisture content 3 Electrical conductivity 4 Free acid 5 Diastase and HMF content 6 Might also include: colour, consistency, flavour and aroma, addition of food ingredients not permitted and honey free from substances foreign to its composition.
Maximum legal moisture content
Floral honey - Not more than 20%
Heather (Calluna) honey - Not more than 23%
Bakers honey in general - Not more than 23%
Current UK Legislation
The Honey (England) Regulations 2015 EC Regulation 852/2004 recently adopted by UK Government under EU Exit legislation (food hygiene)
Definition of honey and different types of honey (legal descriptions)
B B C Combs Detailed Extracts For Health Purposes
Honey: the natural sweet substance produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living plants or secretions of plant-sucking insects on the living plants which the bees collect, transform, deposit, dehydrate and leave in honey combs to ripen and mature.
- Baker’s honey. Honey suitable for industrial use or as an ingredient in another foodstuff which is then processed
- Blossom and nectar honey. Obtained form the nectar of plants.
- Chunk and cut comb in honey. Contain on or more pieces of comb in honey.
- Comb honey. Stored by bees in cells of freshly built broodless comb or this comb foundation sheets made solely of beeswax and sold in sealed whole combs or sections of such combs.
- Drained honey. Obtained by draining de-capped broodless combs.
- Extracted honey. Obtained by centrifuging de-capped broodless comb.
- Filtered honey. Obtained by removing foreign inorganic ororganic matters in such a way as to result in a significant removal of pollen.
- Honeydew honey. Obtained mainly form the excretion of plant sucking insects (Hemiptera) on the living part of plants or secretions of living parts of plants.
- Pressed honey. Obtained by pressing broodless combs with or without the application of moderate heat not exceeding 45C.
FSA requirements for a beekeeper to extract small quantities of honey in a domestic kitchen?
1, Floor surfaces must be sound and easy to clean and disinfect
2. Wall surfaces must be sound and easy to clean and disinfect
3. Doors must be easy to clean and disinfect
4. Any surfaces (including those of equipment) must be sound and easy to clean and disinfect.
5. Ceilings and windows must be designed, constructed and finished to prevent the accumulation of dirt.
6. Windows opening to the outside must be fitted with insect-proof screen which can be easily removed to be cleaned.
7. Windows must be kept closed during operation.
8/ Adequate facilities to wash tools and equipment to have both hot and cold water.
9. Separate hand and food-washing sinks. Washbasins available, suitably located and designated for cleaning hands
10. Ventilated lobby between toilet and extraction room.Lavatories must not lead directly into rooms in which food is handled.
11. Summary: The premises must have adequate layout, ventilation, be clean and in good repair, with appropriate lavatories and hand washing facilities. Hand washing facilities must have both hot and cold water and, where relevant, be separate from the food washing facilities.
FSA additional legal requirements for the equipment for extracting, processing and for preparing honey for sale to retail outlets
Hazard analysis and critical control for production of honey:
1. Food handlers trained and supervised
equipment to be stainless steel or food grade plastic, (clean and in good condition)
2. Free from cleaning chemicals (rinsed in clean water). Inspection prior to each session
3. Handle jars carefully to prevent cracking and chipping Reject damaged jars and lids
4. Store unfilled jars and lids in clean vermin free place
5. Wash and dry jars well (dishwasher if poss) before filling
6. Secondhand jars only from trusted sources
7. If using plastic buckets ensure food grade (keep purchase record
8. Ensure all equipment thoroughly dry before use
9. Only extract from fully ripe combs
10. Work in as dry an environment as possible
11. Store extracted honey in hermatically sealed containers
12. Tighten jar lids fully when packaging
13. Fit anti-tamper seals
14. Avoid heating honey unnecessarily(record temp and max heat)
15. Store in a cool place
16. Rotate stock
HONEY General composition criteria.
YES Sugars Colour Consistency Flavour Ingredients Other additions
NO Foreign matter Fermentation Artificial Heated Pollen removal
- different Sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose, as well as other substances such as enzymes, organic acids and other particles derived from honey collection.
- Colour. Nearly colourless to dark brown.
- Consistency. Fluid, viscous or partly or entirely crystallised.
- Flavour and aroma. Vary but derived from plant origin.
- Food ingredients. None added
- Other additions. None except for other honey.
- Free from organic or inorganic matters foreign to its composition
- No/not: (except for baker’s honey)
• Foreign taste or odours
• Begun to ferment
• Been Artificially changed
• Been Heated in such a way that the natural enzymes have been either destroyed or
significantly activated. - No Pollen or constituent particular to honey may be removed except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter. Not applicable to filtered honey.
HONEY Detailed composition criteria
Feel Something Magical When Everyone Feels DownHearted
- Fructose and glucose content. Blossom honey not less than 60g/100g
- Sucrose content. Most honeys not more than 5g/100g
- Moisture content. All honey less heather not more than 20% Heather not more than 23%
- Water-insoluble content. All honey less pressed honey not more than 0.1g/100g
- Electrical conductivity - normal honey not listed below and blends of these <0.8mS/cm. honeydew,
strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), bell heather (Erica), eucalyptus, lime , ling heather, manuka, tea tree >0.8mS/cm
not less than 0.8 mS/cm - Free acid. All honey except baker’s not more than 50 milli-equivalents acid/kg
• Baker’s not more than 80 milli-equivalents acid/kg - Diastase and hydroxymethylfurfural content after processing and blending:
• Diastase activity (Schade scale) All honey less baker’s and citrus not less than 8
• HMF. All honey except baker’s should be <40mg/kg. Honeys of declared origin from regions with tropical climate and blends of these honeys not more than 80 mg/kg
UK legislation affecting premises used for bottling honey for sale to retail outlets.
EC Regulation 852/2004 recently adopted by UK Government under EU Exit legislation.
Honey Definition
The natural sweet substance produced by Apis Melifera bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature.
Honey can be spoiled through over heating. Give two measures and their permitted
values that are defined in The Honey Regulations that are used to determine if a honey
has been overheated.
- Diastase level should be >8 on the Schade scale.
* Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) level should <40mg/kg.
Sucrose content in Honey (per 100g)
G5
F10
L15
in general not more than 5g/100g
False acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Menzies Banksia (Banksia menziesii), French honeysuckle (Hedysarum), red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida, Eucryphia milliganii), Citrus spp.
not more than 10g/100g
Lavender (Lavandula spp.), borage not more than 15g/100g
Fructose and glucose content in Honey (sum of both per 100g)
G60
H45
General blossom honey not less than 60g/100g
honeydew honey, blends of honeydew honey with blossom honey not less than 45g/100g
Water-insoluble content
in general not more than 0.1g/100g
pressed honey not more than 0.5g/100g
