Manuka honey labelling guide revealed

Photo / Martin Sykes

An interim labelling guide for manuka honey has been released following concerns raised in the industry about some products not being everything they claim to be.

"The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is acting to ensure that manuka honey products are true to label and not misleading for consumers," regulation and assurance deputy director general Scott Gallacher said.

"Now we have clarified for businesses what is required, we expect products to be labelled correctly and that any therapeutic and health claims are removed from honey that is consumed."

It was important consumers were getting the manuka honey they paid a premium for, and the guide would assist with that, Mr Gallacher said.

The guide would also ensure that New Zealand was producing a product that stood up to market expectations.

"We're focussed on giving clarity on this so the industry can hold their head up high and demonstrate to overseas markets and our consumers in New Zealand that what they're consuming is true to label.

"People can have a reference point with these interim guidelines so they know what the benchmark is that [the makers] have to meet."

MPI would continue to work with the industry to ensure all businesses knew what the guidelines required of them, Mr Gallacher said.

"Ultimately though, if businesses do not comply we will consider enforcement action."

Developing a guide was challenging as there was a lack of validated scientific data to characterise manuka honey, he said.

"MPI is funding further research, with the initial results looking promising.

"When this research is validated it will be incorporated into a revised guide, which we aim to consider in late July 2015."

The fact current testing did not allow for the differentiation of manuka from kanuka properties was particularly an issue, he said. However, part of MPI's research would look into using new technologies, including pollen identification, DNA profiling and chemical fingerprinting, which could detect the difference.