Honey origin labelling

Origin on a honey label means the country where the honey was harvested, not where it was packed. Stating it is required by Directive 2001/110/EC. From 14 June 2026 the new rules of Directive (EU) 2024/1438 apply and replace the wording ‘blend of EU honeys’ and ‘blend of non-EU honeys’.

If the honey comes from several countries, all of them must appear in the principal field of vision in descending order of weight share, each with its percentage; a tolerance of 5 % applies to each share, calculated from the traceability documents. Member States may allow percentages for only the four largest countries if there are more than four and those four make up over 50 % of the blend; the rest are listed in descending order without percentages. On packs under 30 g the country names may be replaced by a two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code.

Why this matters to you: you can now see where honey comes from and in what shares: instead of a vague ‘blend of honeys’ there is a list of countries with percentages. Tiny print in a corner does not meet the rule, because the information must be in the principal field of vision. The country of harvest does not guarantee quality, but it is the first check of what the jar says.