New FDA definition gives clear lines for what is and isn’t honey

Companies that produce honey or products that incorporate it have some new guidelines they need to be aware of, thanks to the FDA. According to the document recently posted on their website, the agency has a firm idea of what honey should be, and that includes separating it from other substances that rely on sugary additives for flavor and sweetness.

Combining honey and a sweetener means that companies cannot actually call the product honey, the FDA said. Instead, these products have to be given some sort of name with the word “blend” in it to denote that it is a mixture of different elements. This may seem relatively simple, but becomes more complicated as it extends to other ingredients like flavoring.

Businesses that make a variety of honey-infused products might find themselves swamped with the need to change their current labels. Color label printers can be used to produce the right amount of printing for each different item.

“A properly labeled package of only honey would show the name of the food as “honey,” and it would not need an ingredient statement because it would only contain one ingredient,” the FDA’s guidelines read. The source goes on to note that “in comparison, a properly labeled package of a blend of honey and a sweetener would have a name such as ‘blend of honey and sugar.'”

It’s significant that this new change has come in the same year as the FDA’s other advances in the realms of Nutrition Labels. One of the primary changes in their proposed redesign was to make calorie counts more prominent.

This might seem like a major label overhaul is needed if you produce honey, but a color label printer can help in this effort as you attempt to follow these guidelines.