DSTU 4497:2005 "Natural honey" (Ukrainian standard)

DSTU 4497:2005 ‘Natural honey. Specifications’ is the Ukrainian national standard for honey. It covers natural blossom honey and blossom honey with an admixture of honeydew, and defines honey as the natural sweet substance that bees make from flower nectar or from secretions of living parts of plants or of insects and leave to ripen in the combs.

The standard was approved by order of the State Committee for Consumer Standards of Ukraine No. 379 of 28 December 2005 and has applied since 1 January 2007; it was developed by the Prokopovych Institute of Beekeeping. The Budstandart catalogue marks it as in force. Its sections cover technical requirements, packaging, labelling, safety, acceptance rules, transport and storage. The test methods include pollen analysis and the determination of water, reducing sugars and sucrose, diastase number, HMF, acidity, proline and electrical conductivity, plus a qualitative reaction for honeydew.

Why this matters to you: the standard sets out the parameters by which a laboratory in Ukraine assesses honey: water, sugars, diastase, HMF, acidity, proline, conductivity and pollen. For honey on the EU market the same groups of parameters, water, sugars, diastase, HMF, acidity and conductivity, are set by Directive 2001/110/EC.