If you buy honey in the supermarket, you may have noticed something different on the labels recently. Instead of the familiar and rather vague “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, many jars are now displaying a list of individual countries, together with the percentage of honey coming from each one.
This is the result of new EU honey labelling regulations which came into effect on 14 June 2026. For Irish and European beekeepers, who have long called for greater transparency around the origin of imported honey, this is a very welcome change. It is good news for consumers too. For the first time, it is much easier to see where the honey in a jar of blended honey is declared to come from.
If you look closely, some of the new labels make for very interesting reading. A jar with an Irish-looking label, a familiar brand name or references to generations of beekeepers may turn out to contain honey harvested in China, Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine or several other countries. There is often not one drop of Irish honey in the jar.
The new regulations give us much greater transparency about the declared origin of honey. They do not mean that the honey in the jar has undergone independent laboratory testing to verify either its geographical origin or its authenticity.
So what exactly has changed, what can we learn from the new labels, and what should consumers still be aware of? Read the key takeaways for a quick summary, or continue to full blog below.
Key takeaways
Since 14 June 2026, blended honey sold under the new EU rules must identify the countries where the honey was harvested and show their percentage contribution.
Country of origin means where the honey was harvested, not where it was blended, bottled or packed.
The percentages shown on labels are based on the food business operator’s traceability documentation; they do not necessarily represent an origin independently established through laboratory analysis.
Better origin labelling does not mean honey fraud has disappeared or that every batch has been independently tested for authenticity.
If you specifically want Irish honey, look for Ireland as the country of origin rather than relying on Irish branding, an Irish company address or statements such as “packed in Ireland”.
What has changed on honey labels?
Before 14 June 2026, honey blended from several countries could be labelled using broad descriptions such as “blend of EU honeys”, “blend of non-EU honeys” or “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”. That told the consumer very little. No individual countries of origin, no percentages, and no authenticity test.
A blend could contain honey from several different countries without those countries being individually identified. Neither did the label have to tell you what proportion came from each origin. A jar carrying the words “EU and non-EU” therefore gave you very little meaningful information about where the honey actually came from.
Under the new rules, where honey is a blend originating in more than one country, the countries where the honey was harvested must be listed in descending order according to their share by weight. The percentage represented by each country must also be given.
Example
So, for example, a label might now read:
Country of origin: China 45% Argentina 30% Spain 15% Ukraine 10%
The origin information must also appear in the principal field of vision — generally the part of the packaging you are most likely to see when looking at the product — rather than being hidden away somewhere on the jar. There is a permitted tolerance of 5% for each individual share in a blend, calculated on the basis of the operator’s traceability documentation.
You may still see some jars carrying the old “EU/non-EU” wording for a while. Honey that was produced, packaged, labelled and placed on the market on or before 14 June 2026 can continue to be sold until those stocks are exhausted.
So, essentially, what has changed is the information that must be declared on the label: the countries of origin and their percentage share must now be shown. What has not changed is equally important. The new labelling rules do not introduce independent verification of origin or require every batch to be tested to establish that what is in the jar is authentic honey.
Country of origin means where the honey was harvested
The country of origin refers to where the honey was harvested. That is not necessarily the same country in which it was blended, packed or bottled, nor does it necessarily correspond with the address of the company selling it. This matters because, as we have seen on supermarket shelves, the branding and language used by many of the big honey importers and packers can create a very different impression. They want consumers to think the honey is Irish.
A honey may be sold by an Irish company, carry an Irish address, use Irish imagery or talk about a long family history of beekeeping. It may even have been blended and packed here in Ireland. None of those things, on their own, mean that the honey in the jar was produced by bees in Ireland.
Where do the percentages on the new labels come from?
It would be easy to look at a label stating that a honey contains, for example, 45% Chinese honey and 30% Argentinian honey and assume that an authority has independently verified those numbers. However, that is not how the new system works. The origin and percentages are declared by the food business operator and should be based on its traceability documentation.
Food businesses are legally responsible for the accuracy of the information they provide, but the figures you see on the label have not necessarily been independently established through laboratory analysis of the honey. This is perhaps the biggest limitation of the new legislation. It relies on an industry fraught with adulteration and fraud to self-report and be transparent about the origin of its produce — something it has been unable to do consistently for many decades.
Limitations of new legislation
International investigations have repeatedly demonstrated that adulterated honey enters legitimate supply chains and is sold to consumers in supermarkets as honey. Only honey can legally be sold as honey, yet products containing undeclared sugar syrups continue to make their way onto the European market.
Against that background, it is reasonable to question whether self-reporting alone is sufficient to establish something as important as geographical origin. Better disclosure is undoubtedly a major improvement, but its value ultimately depends on the information supplied through the honey supply chain being correct.
The EU itself recognises that current methods need to catch up. The amended Honey Directive Directive – EU – 2024/1438 – EN – EUR-Lex calls for improved authenticity controls, harmonised methods for detecting adulterated honey and methods and criteria for determining where honey has actually been harvested. Harmonised analytical methods for detecting adulterated honey are due to be adopted by June 2028, with further measures concerning geographical origin and EU-wide traceability due by June 2029.
That leaves an important gap in the meantime. We now have much better information on the label, but the systems needed to independently verify some of that information are still being developed. For consumers, therefore, the new labels provide much better information about the declared origin of honey. They should not be confused with independent proof of origin or authenticity.
Better labelling legislation do not mean that honey fraud has disappeared
Despite these new labelling regulations, international honey fraud remains a significant problem. During the European Commission’s coordinated action From the Hives in 2021-2022, 320 consignments of honey imported into the EU were sampled. Of those, 147 — 46% — were considered suspicious of non-compliance with the EU Honey Directive because at least one marker of extraneous sugar sources was detected. Read more about the coordinated action here.
That does not mean that 46% of all imported honey sold in Europe is proven to be fake. The investigation was not designed to establish that, and there is currently no blanket testing on imported honey. However, the results demonstrate why honey authenticity remains a serious concern and why better traceability and analytical methods are still needed. Read The European Commission Joint Research Centre announcement on Honey Fraud.
The problem is adulteration and the difficulty consumers face in distinguishing genuine imported honey from fraudulent products. I have covered this subject in much greater depth in The truth about imported honey – EU & non-EU honey, including the EU investigation, methods of adulteration, processing and the challenges involved in authenticity testing.
To understand more about how genuine honey can be distinguished from adulterated honey, including why many popular home tests for “fake honey” do not work, I have covered this separately in my article Fake Honey vs Real Honey.
What to look for when buying honey
The first thing I would say is that not all imported honey is fake or tampered with. There is excellent honey produced in many countries around the world, and Ireland does not produce enough honey to meet domestic demand.
When examining a jar of honey to purchase, the most important thing to do is read the label rather than rely on the branding. Pay particular attention to the difference between where honey was harvested and where it was packed. “Packed in Ireland”, an Irish business address or an Irish-sounding brand is not the same as “country of origin: Ireland”.
If buying imported honey, try to choose a single origin honey that is not blended. And don’t assume that a higher price or more premium-looking packaging necessarily tells you anything about origin either. The label is now giving you considerably better information.
If you want Irish honey, look for Irish origin
Irish honey can be surprisingly difficult to find on supermarket shelves, and it may become even more difficult to find following the closure of Mileeven in July 2026 after 38 years in business. Alongside its much larger imported honey range, Mileeven also sold Irish honey and was a significant buyer of honey from Irish beekeepers.
If you specifically want Irish honey, the best advice I can give is to seek out a local beekeeper. Buy at farmers’ markets, from honesty boxes, through independent local shops or directly from the beekeeper. Ask where the bees are kept and where the honey was harvested. Find a beekeeper whose honey you like and keep going back to them.
Ireland produces honey on a much smaller scale than the major honey-exporting countries, and most individual Irish beekeepers simply do not operate at the volumes required to supply the major supermarket chains.
Buying directly from beekeepers also gives you the opportunity to discover that Irish honey isn’t simply one generic product. Depending on where the bees are kept, the time of year and what is flowering, we can harvest honeys with very different colours, flavours, textures and properties.
Irish Wildflower, Heather and Ivy honey, for example, are very different honeys produced at different points in the beekeeping year.
When faced with several different honeys on a supermarket shelf, many consumers select organic honey because they believe it to be the superior option. What many don’t realise is that there is currently no certified organic Irish honey being produced in Ireland. Organic honey sold here is imported.
Organic beekeeping requires the bees’ forage area to meet strict organic requirements. For free-flying honeybees, which can forage several kilometres from their hive, meeting those conditions in the Irish landscape is extremely difficult.
So an organic label should not be confused with Irish origin. Organic honey may be sold by an Irish company, carry Irish organic certification or be packed in Ireland, but the honey itself has been harvested elsewhere. It is imported honey and is subject to the same country-of-origin labelling requirements as other imported honey.
If you are standing in front of a supermarket shelf choosing between organic honey and Irish honey, therefore, these are two quite separate considerations. If Irish origin matters to you, check where the honey was actually harvested rather than assuming that an organic certification mark means local. I explain this in more detail in Organic Irish Honey – does it exist?.
A welcome step in the right direction
For Irish beekeepers and consumers alike, the new EU honey labelling regulations are a very welcome change. The old “EU/non-EU” descriptions gave consumers remarkably little useful information. Being able to see the actual countries where a blended honey is declared to have been harvested, together with their percentage contribution, makes it much easier to make an informed choice.
But we also need to understand what the label can and cannot tell us.
The new information tells us considerably more about the declared origin of the honey. It does not mean that every jar or every batch imported into our domestic market has undergone independent laboratory testing to verify that geographical origin or to establish that the honey has not been adulterated.
So next time you buy honey, look beyond the branding. Read the country-of-origin information. Look at where the honey was harvested rather than simply where it was packed. And if you specifically want Irish honey, buy from a beekeeper or retailer who can tell you clearly where that honey comes from.
Better labelling will not solve international honey fraud on its own, but giving consumers considerably more information about what they are buying is an important step in the right direction.
References and further reading
European Commission — EU coordinated action “From the Hives” (Honey 2021–2022). Investigation into honey imported into the EU, including sampling, analytical testing, traceability investigations and findings relating to suspected adulteration. Read the European Commission report and findings
Directive (EU) 2024/1438 — European Parliament and Council. The legislation amending the EU Honey Directive, including the new requirements for country-of-origin and percentage labelling and provisions concerning future authenticity and traceability measures. Read Directive – EU – 2024/1438 – EN – EUR-Lex
European Commission Joint Research Centre — Food fraud: How genuine is your honey? An explanation of the analytical methods used to identify honey suspected of adulteration and why improved, harmonised methods are still needed. Read the JRC overview of honey authenticity testing
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Consumer guide to EU honey labelling regulations
If you buy honey in the supermarket, you may have noticed something different on the labels recently. Instead of the familiar and rather vague “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, many jars are now displaying a list of individual countries, together with the percentage of honey coming from each one.
This is the result of new EU honey labelling regulations which came into effect on 14 June 2026. For Irish and European beekeepers, who have long called for greater transparency around the origin of imported honey, this is a very welcome change. It is good news for consumers too. For the first time, it is much easier to see where the honey in a jar of blended honey is declared to come from.
If you look closely, some of the new labels make for very interesting reading. A jar with an Irish-looking label, a familiar brand name or references to generations of beekeepers may turn out to contain honey harvested in China, Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine or several other countries. There is often not one drop of Irish honey in the jar.
The new regulations give us much greater transparency about the declared origin of honey. They do not mean that the honey in the jar has undergone independent laboratory testing to verify either its geographical origin or its authenticity.
So what exactly has changed, what can we learn from the new labels, and what should consumers still be aware of? Read the key takeaways for a quick summary, or continue to full blog below.
Key takeaways
Since 14 June 2026, blended honey sold under the new EU rules must identify the countries where the honey was harvested and show their percentage contribution.
Country of origin means where the honey was harvested, not where it was blended, bottled or packed.
The percentages shown on labels are based on the food business operator’s traceability documentation; they do not necessarily represent an origin independently established through laboratory analysis.
Better origin labelling does not mean honey fraud has disappeared or that every batch has been independently tested for authenticity.
If you specifically want Irish honey, look for Ireland as the country of origin rather than relying on Irish branding, an Irish company address or statements such as “packed in Ireland”.
What has changed on honey labels?
Before 14 June 2026, honey blended from several countries could be labelled using broad descriptions such as “blend of EU honeys”, “blend of non-EU honeys” or “blend of EU and non-EU honeys”. That told the consumer very little. No individual countries of origin, no percentages, and no authenticity test.
A blend could contain honey from several different countries without those countries being individually identified. Neither did the label have to tell you what proportion came from each origin. A jar carrying the words “EU and non-EU” therefore gave you very little meaningful information about where the honey actually came from.
Under the new rules, where honey is a blend originating in more than one country, the countries where the honey was harvested must be listed in descending order according to their share by weight. The percentage represented by each country must also be given.
Example
So, for example, a label might now read:
Country of origin:
China 45%
Argentina 30%
Spain 15%
Ukraine 10%
The origin information must also appear in the principal field of vision — generally the part of the packaging you are most likely to see when looking at the product — rather than being hidden away somewhere on the jar. There is a permitted tolerance of 5% for each individual share in a blend, calculated on the basis of the operator’s traceability documentation.
You may still see some jars carrying the old “EU/non-EU” wording for a while. Honey that was produced, packaged, labelled and placed on the market on or before 14 June 2026 can continue to be sold until those stocks are exhausted.
So, essentially, what has changed is the information that must be declared on the label: the countries of origin and their percentage share must now be shown. What has not changed is equally important. The new labelling rules do not introduce independent verification of origin or require every batch to be tested to establish that what is in the jar is authentic honey.
Country of origin means where the honey was harvested
The country of origin refers to where the honey was harvested. That is not necessarily the same country in which it was blended, packed or bottled, nor does it necessarily correspond with the address of the company selling it. This matters because, as we have seen on supermarket shelves, the branding and language used by many of the big honey importers and packers can create a very different impression. They want consumers to think the honey is Irish.
A honey may be sold by an Irish company, carry an Irish address, use Irish imagery or talk about a long family history of beekeeping. It may even have been blended and packed here in Ireland. None of those things, on their own, mean that the honey in the jar was produced by bees in Ireland.
Where do the percentages on the new labels come from?
It would be easy to look at a label stating that a honey contains, for example, 45% Chinese honey and 30% Argentinian honey and assume that an authority has independently verified those numbers. However, that is not how the new system works. The origin and percentages are declared by the food business operator and should be based on its traceability documentation.
Food businesses are legally responsible for the accuracy of the information they provide, but the figures you see on the label have not necessarily been independently established through laboratory analysis of the honey. This is perhaps the biggest limitation of the new legislation. It relies on an industry fraught with adulteration and fraud to self-report and be transparent about the origin of its produce — something it has been unable to do consistently for many decades.
Limitations of new legislation
International investigations have repeatedly demonstrated that adulterated honey enters legitimate supply chains and is sold to consumers in supermarkets as honey. Only honey can legally be sold as honey, yet products containing undeclared sugar syrups continue to make their way onto the European market.
Against that background, it is reasonable to question whether self-reporting alone is sufficient to establish something as important as geographical origin. Better disclosure is undoubtedly a major improvement, but its value ultimately depends on the information supplied through the honey supply chain being correct.
The EU itself recognises that current methods need to catch up. The amended Honey Directive Directive – EU – 2024/1438 – EN – EUR-Lex calls for improved authenticity controls, harmonised methods for detecting adulterated honey and methods and criteria for determining where honey has actually been harvested. Harmonised analytical methods for detecting adulterated honey are due to be adopted by June 2028, with further measures concerning geographical origin and EU-wide traceability due by June 2029.
That leaves an important gap in the meantime. We now have much better information on the label, but the systems needed to independently verify some of that information are still being developed. For consumers, therefore, the new labels provide much better information about the declared origin of honey. They should not be confused with independent proof of origin or authenticity.
Better labelling legislation do not mean that honey fraud has disappeared
Despite these new labelling regulations, international honey fraud remains a significant problem. During the European Commission’s coordinated action From the Hives in 2021-2022, 320 consignments of honey imported into the EU were sampled. Of those, 147 — 46% — were considered suspicious of non-compliance with the EU Honey Directive because at least one marker of extraneous sugar sources was detected. Read more about the coordinated action here.
That does not mean that 46% of all imported honey sold in Europe is proven to be fake. The investigation was not designed to establish that, and there is currently no blanket testing on imported honey. However, the results demonstrate why honey authenticity remains a serious concern and why better traceability and analytical methods are still needed. Read The European Commission Joint Research Centre announcement on Honey Fraud.
The problem is adulteration and the difficulty consumers face in distinguishing genuine imported honey from fraudulent products. I have covered this subject in much greater depth in The truth about imported honey – EU & non-EU honey, including the EU investigation, methods of adulteration, processing and the challenges involved in authenticity testing.
To understand more about how genuine honey can be distinguished from adulterated honey, including why many popular home tests for “fake honey” do not work, I have covered this separately in my article Fake Honey vs Real Honey.
What to look for when buying honey
The first thing I would say is that not all imported honey is fake or tampered with. There is excellent honey produced in many countries around the world, and Ireland does not produce enough honey to meet domestic demand.
When examining a jar of honey to purchase, the most important thing to do is read the label rather than rely on the branding. Pay particular attention to the difference between where honey was harvested and where it was packed. “Packed in Ireland”, an Irish business address or an Irish-sounding brand is not the same as “country of origin: Ireland”.
If buying imported honey, try to choose a single origin honey that is not blended. And don’t assume that a higher price or more premium-looking packaging necessarily tells you anything about origin either. The label is now giving you considerably better information.
If you want Irish honey, look for Irish origin
Irish honey can be surprisingly difficult to find on supermarket shelves, and it may become even more difficult to find following the closure of Mileeven in July 2026 after 38 years in business. Alongside its much larger imported honey range, Mileeven also sold Irish honey and was a significant buyer of honey from Irish beekeepers.
If you specifically want Irish honey, the best advice I can give is to seek out a local beekeeper. Buy at farmers’ markets, from honesty boxes, through independent local shops or directly from the beekeeper. Ask where the bees are kept and where the honey was harvested. Find a beekeeper whose honey you like and keep going back to them.
Ireland produces honey on a much smaller scale than the major honey-exporting countries, and most individual Irish beekeepers simply do not operate at the volumes required to supply the major supermarket chains.
Buying directly from beekeepers also gives you the opportunity to discover that Irish honey isn’t simply one generic product. Depending on where the bees are kept, the time of year and what is flowering, we can harvest honeys with very different colours, flavours, textures and properties.
Irish Wildflower, Heather and Ivy honey, for example, are very different honeys produced at different points in the beekeeping year.
Local honey is usually more expensive than mass-market imported blends, and there are good reasons for that. I explain the economics of producing honey here in more detail in Why is local honey so expensive compared to imported supermarket honey?.
A note on Organic honey and local honey
When faced with several different honeys on a supermarket shelf, many consumers select organic honey because they believe it to be the superior option. What many don’t realise is that there is currently no certified organic Irish honey being produced in Ireland. Organic honey sold here is imported.
Organic beekeeping requires the bees’ forage area to meet strict organic requirements. For free-flying honeybees, which can forage several kilometres from their hive, meeting those conditions in the Irish landscape is extremely difficult.
So an organic label should not be confused with Irish origin. Organic honey may be sold by an Irish company, carry Irish organic certification or be packed in Ireland, but the honey itself has been harvested elsewhere. It is imported honey and is subject to the same country-of-origin labelling requirements as other imported honey.
If you are standing in front of a supermarket shelf choosing between organic honey and Irish honey, therefore, these are two quite separate considerations. If Irish origin matters to you, check where the honey was actually harvested rather than assuming that an organic certification mark means local. I explain this in more detail in Organic Irish Honey – does it exist?.
A welcome step in the right direction
For Irish beekeepers and consumers alike, the new EU honey labelling regulations are a very welcome change. The old “EU/non-EU” descriptions gave consumers remarkably little useful information. Being able to see the actual countries where a blended honey is declared to have been harvested, together with their percentage contribution, makes it much easier to make an informed choice.
But we also need to understand what the label can and cannot tell us.
The new information tells us considerably more about the declared origin of the honey. It does not mean that every jar or every batch imported into our domestic market has undergone independent laboratory testing to verify that geographical origin or to establish that the honey has not been adulterated.
So next time you buy honey, look beyond the branding. Read the country-of-origin information. Look at where the honey was harvested rather than simply where it was packed. And if you specifically want Irish honey, buy from a beekeeper or retailer who can tell you clearly where that honey comes from.
Better labelling will not solve international honey fraud on its own, but giving consumers considerably more information about what they are buying is an important step in the right direction.
References and further reading
European Commission — EU coordinated action “From the Hives” (Honey 2021–2022). Investigation into honey imported into the EU, including sampling, analytical testing, traceability investigations and findings relating to suspected adulteration. Read the European Commission report and findings
Directive (EU) 2024/1438 — European Parliament and Council. The legislation amending the EU Honey Directive, including the new requirements for country-of-origin and percentage labelling and provisions concerning future authenticity and traceability measures. Read Directive – EU – 2024/1438 – EN – EUR-Lex
European Commission Joint Research Centre — Food fraud: How genuine is your honey? An explanation of the analytical methods used to identify honey suspected of adulteration and why improved, harmonised methods are still needed. Read the JRC overview of honey authenticity testing
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