Honey labelling question

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736
588
Christchurch
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Semi Commercial
Preamble: so I’m putting together my honey labels and using the MPI information which is mostly straightforward, however;

Question: how do you know if your honey has a shelf life of two years or more?

Apparently A best before date is optional if your honey has a shelf life of two years or more…
 

yesbut

Staff member
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Nelson
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I betcha Trev is going to pop up shortly advising the use of a thingamabob to measure your honey's moisture content before jarring....
 

Trevor Gillbanks

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Palmerston North
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I betcha Trev is going to pop up shortly advising the use of a thingamabob to measure your honey's moisture content before jarring....
That part should already have been done at extraction time. And the measuring thingmabob is called a Refractometer
NP1 or 2 rules says that all food products are supposed to have a best before date.
Honey is recognised as not having an expiry date so the maximum time you can legally put on a label is 2 years.
Honey sort of falls thru the gaps with the health rules because of it's forever life span.
 
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Reactions: Kiwi Bee
8,865
5,295
maungaturoto
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Commercial
i thought it was 4 years?
the problem is not the honey, its the container that limits the shelf life.

moisture checking, as well as all other checks, should always be done at packing. its the final step in the process from hive to consumer, its up to you to make sure its fit for consumption.

there is no official requirement for extraction and most extractors have no means of fixing wet honey anyway.
 
90
116
Hamilton
Experience
Researcher
Also remember that if you're relying on chemical parameters to meet authenticity or labelling requirements they they are likely to change with time. Diastase will decrease with time. HMF will increase with time. MGO will go up and then down again. DNA will decrease with time. All of this will happen in a jar.
 

Trevor Gillbanks

Founder Member
10,637
7,219
Palmerston North
Experience
Hobbyist
Also remember that if you're relying on chemical parameters to meet authenticity or labelling requirements they they are likely to change with time. Diastase will decrease with time. HMF will increase with time. MGO will go up and then down again. DNA will decrease with time. All of this will happen in a jar.
Yes. And this is why as a hobbyist I can use the generic analysis on my honey labels. (as can all hobbyists)
 
736
588
Christchurch
Experience
Semi Commercial
That part should already have been done at extraction time. And the measuring thingmabob is called a Refractometer
NP1 or 2 rules says that all food products are supposed to have a best before date.
Honey is recognised as not having an expiry date so the maximum time you can legally put on a label is 2 years.
Honey sort of falls thru the gaps with the health rules because of it's forever life span.
Of course it is probably most straight forward to just put the Best Before date on the label, but I'm a bit frustrated by the contradictions in the documents...

The MPI honey labelling info seems to be contradicting the NP2 rule by saying (clearly) that the label only requires a best before date if it is less than two years. Actually it says that it is optional...! Also says "Not usually required for honey". But, on the check list it says that it "must have this". The same contradiction occurs with Storage instructions... "Not usually required for honey" and "must have this" check box... (where is the emoji for head explosion?)

I'm talking about non-export honey only.

 


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