A jar of honey can be beautifully designed, locally produced and carefully extracted, yet still be unsuitable for sale if the label misses essential information. This guide to honey labelling rules is for UK beekeepers, small producers and businesses selling honey under their own name, whether at a market, online, through a farm shop or as a corporate gift.
The rules are there to help customers understand what they are buying and to make products traceable if a problem arises. Honey has specific legal descriptions as well as the wider food labelling requirements, so a simple label needs more thought than many new sellers expect.
The information every prepacked honey jar needs
If honey is packed before the customer chooses it, the label will normally need the food name, country of origin, net quantity, durability date, lot or batch identification, and the name and address of the responsible food business. The information must be clear, permanent, easy to read and in English. It should not be hidden beneath the jar, broken up by decorative artwork or printed so small that a customer cannot reasonably read it.
For most jars, a compliant front or back label might include: “Honey”, “Product of the United Kingdom”, “Net weight 227 g”, a best-before date, a batch code, and your business name with a UK postal address. How these details are arranged is your choice, provided the mandatory information remains legible.
Use the correct legal name
“Honey” is not just a marketing term. It is a reserved description for the natural sweet substance made by honey bees from nectar or plant secretions. Do not describe a sugar syrup, flavoured spread or honey-based blend simply as honey.
If your product is a particular type of honey, use the appropriate name. Examples include comb honey, cut comb honey, drained honey and filtered honey. The distinction matters. Filtered honey has had a significant amount of pollen removed and has specific requirements, so it is not a label to use merely because the honey was strained through a coarse sieve.
If you sell jars containing honey with pieces of comb, make sure the description accurately reflects the product, such as cut comb honey or honey with pieces of comb where appropriate. Your extraction and packing method should support the wording on the label.
State where the honey comes from
Honey labels must give the country or countries of origin where the honey was harvested. For a crop produced solely from your own colonies in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, “Product of the United Kingdom” is a clear option. You may add a more precise place, such as Lincolnshire, if it is truthful and not misleading.
For blended honey, the origin statement must reflect all relevant countries. Wording such as “Blend of honeys from more than one country” may be suitable where it accurately describes the blend. Do not use “British honey” for a jar containing imported honey, even where it was bottled or labelled in Britain. Packing location is not the same as origin.
Regional claims need care too. “Lincolnshire honey” suggests the honey was produced there, not that it was packed there. If you move hives seasonally or buy in honey from other keepers, keep clear records so you can support every geographical claim.
Weight, dates and traceability
The net quantity must be shown in metric units, usually grams or kilograms. “Net weight 340 g” is familiar and clear for a jar of honey. The declared weight is the honey only, not the jar, lid, label or any packaging. Your filling process must be controlled so the average contents meet the quantity declared, including the relevant rules on tolerable negative error.
Honey is usually labelled with a best-before date rather than a use-by date. A use-by date is for highly perishable food that may become unsafe quickly. Honey’s low water activity means it has a long shelf life when properly handled and stored, though its quality can change over time.
The date format depends on the product’s durability. For a product with a durability of more than 18 months, a month and year, or in some cases a year, may be appropriate. Use wording such as “Best before end: 06/2028” where it correctly reflects the format used. Include storage instructions where they are needed for customers to keep the honey in good condition, for example “Store in a cool, dry place.”
A lot or batch code connects each jar to your production records. It can be as simple as a code based on the extraction date and batch, provided it lets you identify the relevant honey and jars quickly. This is essential if you need to investigate a complaint or withdraw a product. A date mark can sometimes serve as lot identification where it contains the required day and month details, but many honey producers use a separate batch code because it is clearer.
Business details and ingredient information
Your label needs the name and address of the food business operator responsible for the product. This must be a physical UK address at which the business can be contacted, not only a website, social media account or email address. If someone else packs the honey for you, decide in writing who is responsible for the labelling and food information.
Pure honey generally does not need an ingredients list because it is a single-ingredient food and the name makes its nature clear. Equally, there is normally no need to add an allergen statement to plain honey. Do not add precautionary warnings without a genuine, assessed reason. Unnecessary “may contain” statements can confuse customers and weaken meaningful allergen information.
A nutrition declaration is not usually required for plain honey sold without nutrition or health claims. However, the position can change if you make certain voluntary claims. If you are unsure, seek advice before printing thousands of labels.
Claims that can cause problems
The easiest labels to defend are factual ones. “Spring honey”, “Heather honey” or “Wildflower honey” can be useful descriptions, but only when they are supported by the honey’s botanical source, flavour, aroma and characteristics. Honey does not have to come exclusively from one flower source to be called monofloral, but it should be predominantly from that source and genuinely display its recognised qualities.
Be cautious with “raw”, “pure”, “natural”, “local”, “artisan” and “unprocessed”. Some of these terms have no fixed legal definition, but they must not mislead. “Raw” is especially open to interpretation. If you use it, be able to explain your handling process consistently and avoid implying a health advantage that cannot be substantiated.
Health claims are more tightly controlled. Statements suggesting that honey treats coughs, boosts immunity, heals wounds or is healthier than other sugars can create legal issues, particularly when used to encourage a purchase. Traditional use and customer testimonials do not automatically make a claim acceptable on a retail label or product page.
The voluntary message “Not suitable for infants under 12 months” is widely used and helpful for families. It is not a substitute for careful handling, but it is a sensible customer-safety note on jars intended for general sale.
A practical guide to honey labelling rules for white-label sales
White-label honey brings an extra layer of responsibility. A corporate client may want their logo on a jar for staff gifts, events or customer hampers, but the label still needs all mandatory food information. The business named as responsible for the food must be clear, and the origin, weight, date and lot code cannot be removed to make room for branding.
Agree who approves the artwork, who applies the date and batch information, and who holds the traceability records before packing begins. A polished label is not enough if the client later cannot identify which harvest went into a gift box.
Keep a final approved label file for every product and batch. Check it against the jar size as well as on screen. Curved glass can make small text difficult to read, while a label that fits a 340 g jar may not work on a 227 g jar.
Before committing to a print run, review the label beside your batch records and ask a simple question: could a customer, retailer or environmental health officer identify exactly what this honey is, where it came from and who is responsible for it? If the answer is yes, you are building the right foundation for selling honey with confidence.