Honey is the most important product derived from the activities of our beloved bees, and its commercialization represents the main economic activity associated with beekeeping in many countries, including ours.
Fortunately, in Europe, we have long had a regulation that defines and regulates the concept of honey (Council Directive 2001/110/CE of December 20, 2001):
“Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by the bee Apis mellifera from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant-sucking insects present 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.”
Furthermore, this regulation establishes the difference between honey for direct consumption and honey for industrial use (bakeries, jam manufacturers, breweries…).
For honey for direct consumption, the regulation sets limits on some parameters and their known exceptions at the time of legislation:
- Moisture: 20%, except for Calluna (Calluna vulgaris).
- Fructose and glucose content (sum of both) — flower honey not less than 60 g/100 g; honeydew honey, mixtures of honeydew honey with flower honey not less than 45 g/100 g.
- Sucrose content: less than 5%, except for some honeys from certain fast-flowering plants (orange blossom, lavender…).
- Electrical conductivity, setting 0.8 mS/cm as the limit between floral honeys and honeydews.
- Freshness parameters: Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) maximum 40 mg/kg (80 for tropical country honeys) and diastase activity (Schade scale) minimum 8.
- Country or countries of origin: since 2020; until this year, it had to be mentioned as: “mixture of EU honeys,” “mixture of non-EU honeys,” or “mixture of EU and non-EU honeys.”
As with all EU regulations, member states can be more restrictive. In fact, regarding the labeling of the country of origin, some had already required for years to list the countries of origin of the honey.
Recently, during April 2024, a provisional agreement was approved on the breakfast products directive rules, which includes honey. To improve consumer information, in the case of honey blends, the label must indicate the countries of origin in descending order, by weight, as well as the percentage they represent in the blend. Once approved, member states will have two years from the entry into force to apply this regulation.
Honey, like all food products, is regulated by various labeling and food safety standards, among others, in addition to the specific regulations concerning it. In Europe, there are many characterized honeys, some of which are cited in the bibliography.
Product Authenticity
A major concern of the EU is ensuring food safety for consumers, not only in terms of health but also in terms of authenticity. This can only be achieved if everyone involved in the food chain is committed.
To this end, European databases are being created to address fraud, including those that apply to honey. On July 15, 2024 the registration of honey experts for the platform called “HONEY PLATFORM” was closed.
Product Quality
There are different options to differentiate certain honeys and certify their quality for consumers. Among them, we find:
Quality Brands
Europe has a system to protect certain regional productions called Protected Geographical Indications and Protected Designations of Origin (PGI and PDO/DOP) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Logos of Quality Brands in Spain
These brands take a step forward by imposing higher quality standards and controls on themselves, aiming to capture customer loyalty.
The difference between them is that, in Protected Designations of Origin, the raw materials must come from the region of origin, where the entire production process (production, transformation, and preparation) must take place. However, in Protected Geographical Indications, at least one of the three phases of the process must be carried out.
Spain currently has 6 PDOs and 1 PGI for honey. France has 3 PGIs and 2 PDOs (Table 1).


Table 1. List of PDO and PGI brands in Spain and France.
Public or private guarantee brands:
But there are many other ways to differentiate within the EU, such as public or private guarantee brands, where a group of companies associates to ensure that a product, in this case, honey, meets common requirements in terms of quality, composition, geographical origin, and production. Some examples that worth being mentioned are:
- Label Rouge: French certification that must meet strict criteria at the physicochemical, organoleptic, and production method levels. The honey must be of French origin.
- Demeter Label: International certification based on biodynamic production, following Demeter Beekeeping Standards.
- Or simply brands that guarantee the origin of the production such as: ESMEL: A guarantee brand from a group of beekeepers in Mallorca that ensures good production practices for their honey and that it is from the island.

Figure 2. Example of logos of public or private guarantee brands.
Organic Production
In 2018, the regulation governing organic production in Europe was updated.
European consumers value these types of productions, and European agricultural policies aim to promote them to reconcile more sustainable agricultural production while respecting the environment.
According to the regulation, it is a food production system that combines the best environmental and climate action practices, a high level of biodiversity, conservation of natural resources, and the application of high standards of animal welfare and production in line with the demands of an increasing number of consumers.
The labeling “ecological,” “organic,” “biological,” “bio,” or “eco” is reserved for foods from organic production. The label must include the code or the name of the certifying entity.
In organic beekeeping, to control varroa mites, acaricides whose molecules are found in nature must be used. Among other substances with acaricidal effects, oxalic acid, found in some plants like sorrel (Oxalis sp.); formic acid, produced by ants; and thymol, present in the essential oils of thyme (Thymus sp.), can be used.

Figure 3. Organic production logo.
ISO Standards for Apiculture Products (International Standard)
More and more companies are certifying to various private standards (ISO, BRC, IFS…) to improve transparency and relationships with their customers. They can accredit processes, environmental respect measures, etc.
In 2016, thanks to the efforts of a group of French fresh royal jelly producers, the first ISO 12824:2016 standard for apiculture products was published.
In 2021, UNE began working on CTN 327, for the standardization of the production and commercialization of apiculture products in terms of product specifications, beekeeping practices, quality requirements, analysis methods to verify quality parameters, and storage and transport conditions, if required.
In 2023, ISO standards for pollen (24382:2023) and propolis (ISO 24381:2023) were published, and work continues on the ISO standard for honey.
The agri-food sector is very dynamic. Europe, with its policies to guarantee healthy and authentic products to consumers, has since 2001 set the rules for what can be labeled as honey. Changes in European standards are always very slow and sometimes do not take into account the specificities of small-scale productions in certain areas.
Therefore, consumers, distributors, packers, and producers often seek to go a step further in differentiation and apply their own certifications for this purpose.
A demanding and knowledgeable consumer will better appreciate the high quality of European honey.
Want to test your knowledge ? Test the quiz on EU Regulation and labeling of honey below :
References:
- Bogdanov, S., Lüllmann, C., Martin, P., von der Ohe, W. y cols. (1999) Honey Quality and international regulatory standards: review of the International Honey Commission. Swiss Bee Research Centre.
- Orantes, J., Gonell, F., Torres, C., Gómez-Pajuelo, A. (2023) Guía de mieles monoflorales Ibéricas. 4ª edición. https://www.pajueloapicultura.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Guia-de-mieles-monoflorales-Ibericas_2023.pdf
- Persano, O., Piro, R. (2004) Main European unifloral honeys: descriptive sheets. Apidologie, 35, S38-S81.
- Reglamento (UE) 2001/110 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32001L0110
- Reglamento (EU) 2018/848 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/2022-01-01
- Salas, J. (2022) CTN 327 Comité UNE de Productos apícolas. UNE. La Revista de la Normalización Española. https://revista.une.org/50/ctn-327-comite-une-de-productos-apicolas.html