It's easy to say ‘Honey’. However, a minimum of attention is needed to distinguish the various honeys.
Honey, the identity in label
Honey is ‘the substance natural sweet that bees (Apis mellifera) produce from the nectar of plants or from secretions from living parts of plants or from substances secreted by sucking insects found on living parts of plants which they gather, transform by combining them with their own specific substances, deposit, dehydrate, store, and let mature in the hive's combs.’ (1)
The variety of ‘honey’ are distinguished:
– by origin. From flowers or plant nectar, or from honeydew (mainly obtained from substances secreted by sucking insects, Hemiptera, found on living parts of plants or secretions coming from living parts of plants),
– by the method of production or extraction. In comb or with pieces of comb, drained, centrifuged, pressed, filtered. (2)
The country or countries of origin, understood as the national territories where the honey was collected, must always be indicated on the label. (3)
The wording ‘Italian Honey’ is itself suitable to express the mandatory indication of origin. (4) Excellent and abundant, when the conditions apply.
Further geographical indications – related to regional, territorial or topographic origin – may be added on a voluntary basis when the product comes entirely from the indicated area. (5)
Pure honey, by nature and by law
Honey is composed essentially of various sugars, especially fructose and glucose. Also of other substances such as organic acids, enzymes and solid particles from its collection. (6)
It is forbidden to add – either to the product sold as is, or to that used in other foods – any food ingredient, including additives, and ‘any other addition except honey’.
The nectar of the bees must be free from organic and inorganic substances foreign to its composition, as far as possible.
Not allowed abnormal taste or smell, nor the start of fermentation processes, nor an artificially modified degree of acidity. Nor can the product be heated to the point of destroying or significantly inactivating the natural enzymes. (7)
Dario Dongo
Note
(1) See legislative decree 21.5.04 n. 179, Implementation of Directive 2001/110/EC concerning the production and marketing of honey, article 1
(2) Cf. legislative decree 179/04, article 3.2
(3) See legislative decree 179/04, article 2.4.a
(4) As specified in Circular 31.5.12, n. 4
(5) Geographical indications are not allowed on filtered honey and for industrial use. According to legislative decree 21.5.04 n. 179, article 2.2.b
(6) The legal requirements for honey (sugar and sucrose content, water and insoluble substances, electrical conductivity, free acidity, diastase index and HMF) are defined in the Annex to legislative decree 179/2004
(7) See cited decree, article 4. Only industrial honey is exempt from qualitative criteria (taste, smell, acidity, original enzymatic profile)
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
