Selling honey at the gate: is weight info on the label mandatory?

[REDWOOD]

I put a two year date on mine only because customers will eat it quicker and buy more honey

 

[Curly green finger's]

Jarred. Though it not crucial as long as it refers to a"batch" The batch number or date is important for traceability as it allows a batch to be identified if a problem was identified after it has been sold to a consumer.

Good idea to have tamper labels on your jars imo, who's to know if it gets contaminated after you have sold it.
Im sure this is rear indeed.

 

[user 819]

I use a tamper label on every jar.

 

[lindsay s]

[

Register your food business with your local council they are only there to help you. I had to send my label via email to be approved because of covid restrictions. The lady told me I didn’t need a batch number if I put the date it was processed

For more than 30 years I’ve been selling my correctly labelled honey to a local shop and have received a good price for it. The amount varies between a few dozen and and a couple of hundred jars depending on my harvest. I also sell direct and I give a lot away.

With the increase in beekeepers here and a good season more local honey has been appearing in our shops. Unfortunately the labelling on some the jars fell foul of the regulations and someone with a bee in their bonnet brought it to the attention of our local trading standards.

This week environmental health have been in touch with our beekeeping secretary and have asked her to inform our members of the new label regulations that come into force on the 1/10/21 in Scotland. I’m fine with that but they also said that “there is a requirement for all producers of food for human consumption to register with the competent food Authority” that means our environmental health department.

I’m not sure if they just want to know that we exist or if at the other extreme we end up with inspections and having to complete hygiene courses ( I know a local cake maker who works from home and she had to jump through all the hoops! ) I’ve been lucky and have managed to stay under the council radar until now.

I have always followed the the guidelines in my booklet from the Scottish Beekeepers that deals with the processing of honey at home. Also I’ve never had any complaints about my honey and any modest profit is usually ploughed back into my hobby. Registering with the council is giving me food for thought even though this year’s harvest is nearly bottled.

I’m sure some of the the larger honey producers will be thinking it’s about time the hobby beekeepers were brought into line. But like me how many don’t even know that they have to be registered and depending how strict environmental health are, is it worth the hassle for a small amount of honey. This is Scotland I am referring too, I don’t know about the rest of the UK. Any thoughts?

 

[lindsay s]

[
For more than 30 years I’ve been selling my correctly labelled honey to a local shop and have received a good price for it. The amount varies between a few dozen and and a couple of hundred jars depending on my harvest. I also sell direct and I give a lot away.

With the increase in beekeepers here and a good season more local honey has been appearing in our shops. Unfortunately the labelling on some the jars fell foul of the regulations and someone with a bee in their bonnet brought it to the attention of our local trading standards.

This week environmental health have been in touch with our beekeeping secretary and have asked her to inform our members of the new label regulations that come into force on the 1/10/21 in Scotland. I’m fine with that but they also said that “there is a requirement for all producers of food for human consumption to register with the competent food Authority” that means our environmental health department.

I’m not sure if they just want to know that we exist or if at the other extreme we end up with inspections and having to complete hygiene courses ( I know a local cake maker who works from home and she had to jump through all the hoops! ) I’ve been lucky and have managed to stay under the council radar until now.

I have always followed the the guidelines in my booklet from the Scottish Beekeepers that deals with the processing of honey at home. Also I’ve never had any complaints about my honey and any modest profit is usually ploughed back into my hobby. Registering with the council is giving me food for thought even though this year’s harvest is nearly bottled.

I’m sure some of the the larger honey producers will be thinking it’s about time the hobby beekeepers were brought into line. But like me how many don’t even know that they have to be registered and depending how strict environmental health are, is it worth the hassle for a small amount of honey. This is Scotland I am referring too, I don’t know about the rest of the UK. Any thoughts?

Well I jumped the gun and got my self into a panic about our environmental health department. They have since updated our association secretary and have offered to provide an advice sheet for beekeepers and to participate in a meeting. They also said
“Please assure your members that our involvement will be light touch and wish to be a source of advice and guidance not bureaucracy and paperwork.”
I will sleep a bit easier now.

 

[judy12]

Raw is ok as long as you don't heat the honey beyond 45 degrees - this is my understanding. Organic is not unless the land the hives are on is certified organic and you're sure they're only collecting honey from certified organic land - hard to do in England - at least this is my understanding.

 

[enrico]

Raw is ok as long as you don't heat the honey beyond 45 degrees - this is my understanding. Organic is not unless the land the hives are on is certified organic and you're sure they're only collecting honey from certified organic land - hard to do in England - at least this is my understanding.

blimey, dont lets start this thread up again?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Raw is ok as long as you don't heat the honey beyond 45 degrees - this is my understanding.

you understand wrong - the definition has no legal standing, regardless of what heat you warm it to

 

[pargyle]

blimey, dont lets start this thread up again?

you understand wrong - the definition has no legal standing, regardless of what heat you warm it to

Yes .... we've beaten this one to death in the past ... it varies by location what the local weights and measures people will or won't allow. To be honest, small scale, local beekeepers selling their crop from the door or via small independent retailers are probably well below the radar of the local inspection authorities.

The worst that is going to happen with a label that does not fully comply is going to be a warning to change it or face further action and frankly they are not likely to intervene unless someone has made a formal complaint about the label..... and I am reluctant to suggest it but who is going to complain apart from another beekeeper ?

I rather suspect that the minutiae of the honey labelling regs is not required reading for most (if not all !) of the buyers of locally produced, artisan, untreated, unheated, unfiltered, RAW, honey ....

 

[ericbeaumont]

Raw is ok as long as you don't heat the honey beyond 45 degrees

Well, it is and it isn't.

we've beaten this one to death in the past

No, I saw it twitch...

As JBM said, it has no standing in law and if a Trading Standards officer was so inclined, would serve a notice to oblige a retailer to remove the word from all descriptives. I know of a honey company that was told to change packaging, promotion, website and labels, and Laurence Edwards at Black Mountan Honey explores his brush with TS and the daft UK legislation in this video.

TS usually have bigger fish to fry, but the consensus of Chief TS officers is clear: they disapprove of the use of the word, but (I assume) haven't the will or funding to legislate that opinion, which is why it's up to individual TS officers or councils to follow it or not.

Raw or uncooked are words used routinely in meat & fish legislation, and it would be seriously useful were it to be defined in the honey regs., but as it's not, the use of it may only muddy customer waters (which is the last thing we want).

I agree with Laurence: we need a campaign to change the Honey Regs. to define the word raw and allow its use to boost the perception of our product.

Trouble is, who will do it?

 

[Jules59]

Thornes labels are thus and jars are also like wise .
even in deepest Welsh Wales .C Wyne Jones in Ruthin sells imperial jars .
old habits die hard .
we have left the eu. so why I wonder are metric sizes now legal ?

Most of the world uses the metric system, for very good reasons, without being in the EU.

 

[Beegarden]

This is a pictorial explanation of honey label rules for those who wish to stay within the law. Strange to relate, it was in an article in a certain magazine, probably not to be mentioned on this forum, written by a national honey judge and which landed on my doormat only this morning. It's what we know already, but I always find pictures easier. I used to have the picture on the left on my labels, until I realised it was not allowed. I hope this helps

 

[pargyle]

This is a pictorial explanation of honey label rules for those who wish to stay within the law. Strange to relate, it was in an article in a certain magazine, probably not to be mentioned on this forum, written by a national honey judge and which landed on my doormat only this morning. It's what we know already, but I always find pictures easier. I used to have the picture on the left on my labels, until I realised it was not allowed. I hope this helps

Not all what is written there is totally accurate .... I can't be bothered to pick holes in it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I always find pictures easier

I think many of the contributors to that comic would as well

 

[jeff33]

Thanks both.
We're on a through-route so many sales are probably to commuters rather than regulars. As the village name is incorporated into the label title many folk buy jars for presents so like a label.
Not 'simple' to alter the weight neatly!

Same as me then
We had a message from the council's trading standards during lockdown (they had bugger all else to do) stating that selling at the gate had the same rules (registered and labels must be compliant).... with a passing trade the risk is probably low. Cross the weight or just explain.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not all what is written there is totally accurate

I agree, and not really clearly explained, they imply that the weight etc must be on the front of the jar - not necessarily true, it can be on the back, as long as all the other statutory stuff is there to, and in the same field of vision.
doesn't really clarify the rules on the BB date/lot no. either It can be anywhere as long as it says, again, in the same field as all the other statutory stuff, where it is

 

[jdl]

I watched this video and it makes things clear for England & Wales. Found it covered what I needed to know at least.

 

[PeaBee]

Not all what is written there is totally accurate .... I can't be bothered to pick holes in it.

Yep a few discrepancies in that article I think, in particular with regards to what regulations requirements originate from. While people are trying to be helpful producing guides and YouTube videos, these are just their interpretations, and they are not experts. If you are unsure and want a definite answer just drop your local authority TS an email

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The comic arrived this morning, after a quick flick through I just wish I had a budgie still - at least it would have some use as a cage floor liner

 

[JamezF]

The comic arrived this morning, after a quick flick through I just wish I had a budgie still - at least it would have some use as a cage floor liner

Can't deny that there was very little in it to hold my interest. And the "Things to do and Why" table in the "In The Apiary" section is a bit odd in places. For example: "To do: Consider insulation under the roof. Why? Because Tom Seeley recommends it" (slightly paraphrased). Surely there's room to put a more informative explanation in than that?

James