Yummy Honey..

[Beefriendly]

It was our trading standards officer who told me and he should know.

 

[Millet]

It was our trading standards officer who told me and he should know.

I have sold 90+ 12oz jars of the stuff in the past three three weeks and i have had nobody knock on the door yet.. threatening to give me life imprisonment with no chance no parole.. ..and your little quote above could well be the reason why.. .

 

[Ian123]

Simple fact of the matter is you can go to any of the main suppliers and get a legal label produced. You can even check their sites for all label requirements and get them sorted for a home made/designed label. It’s so straight forward why you would even invite the hassle of not complying is daft.. I have a number of times seen incorrect labels and just suggest they check out the details/requirements to the shop or beek. It would only take 1 pain in the butt or annoying beek who’s unhappy your punching his sales to cause a headache that’s easily avoided.

 

[pargyle]

I think you can both believe what you wish ...the regulations are written ...and official.. i can't see anywhere in them that exempts anyone who SELLS honey in a repackaged format just because they are selling it direct. Even if it is what you two do we should not be encouraging new beekeepers to flaunt the written regulations.

The chances of being caught and prosecuted may be slim but why put yourself in a position where you could be ?

It's just the same as people who don't take out insurance for their bees ... nothing may ever happen but, god forbid, if something seroius did occur you are up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

 

[Beefriendly]

why you would even invite the hassle of not complying is daft.. .

Small scale sellers get an incredible waver.

 

[pargyle]

Simple fact of the matter is you can go to any of the main suppliers and get a legal label produced. You can even check their sites for all label requirements and get them sorted for a home made/designed label. It’s so straight forward why you would even invite the hassle of not complying is daft.. I have a number of times seen incorrect labels and just suggest they check out the details/requirements to the shop or beek. It would only take 1 pain in the butt or annoying beek who’s unhappy your punching his sales to cause a headache that’s easily avoided.

Precisely ... regardless of what local 'wavers' might be witnessed the reality is that the regulations are in place to protect the consumer and you only need one idiot to feed some honey to an infant and that infant to become ill and then attribute it to your honey and all of a sudden the verbal 'wavers' will disappear and you will have the TSA the FSA and goodness knows who crawling all over you looking to find something wrong...and your label is probably the first thing they will look at. Not alarmist ... just can't see why anyone would try and defend something so indefensible - more so in the beginners area !

 

[Walrus]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers

This guidance tells you the information you must provide with food products to comply with the European Food Information to Consumers Regulation No 1169/2011 (FIC) and the Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR).

These rules apply to you if you operate a food business, even if you give food to consumers for free. You don’t need to give food information to customers if you’re not a food business and you’re providing food for an occasional event, like a village fair.

It creates a slight grey area...how many "occasional events" before it is no longer "occasional"?

Personally I think it's safer to follow the guidance, just in case.

 

[Millet]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers

This guidance tells you the information you must provide with food products to comply with the European Food Information to Consumers Regulation No 1169/2011 (FIC) and the Food Information Regulations 2014 (FIR).

These rules apply to you if you operate a food business, even if you give food to consumers for free. You don’t need to give food information to customers if you’re not a food business and you’re providing food for an occasional event, like a village fair.

It creates a slight grey area...how many "occasional events" before it is no longer "occasional"?

Personally I think it's safer to follow the guidance, just in case.

We will be hopefully be out of the EU soon..either way i have the means to produce the label in question but i do not see the point if i do not need to..

 

[pargyle]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers

It creates a slight grey area...how many "occasional events" before it is no longer "occasional"?

Personally I think it's safer to follow the guidance, just in case.

But the honey labelling regulations would probably be more appropriate and would almost certainly override anything covered in the above...? If you were giving honey away at a fete or allowing it to be consumed as part of a provided refreshment you would not be selling it as repackaged honey and in these circumstances would be exempt. But we are talking about selling honey to consumers in jars .. as far as I can see - until someone points me toward the paragraph that says farm gate sales of honey are exempt from correct labelling .... we should abide by them.

 

[Millet]

Simple fact of the matter is you can go to any of the main suppliers and get a legal label produced. You can even check their sites for all label requirements and get them sorted for a home made/designed label. It’s so straight forward why you would even invite the hassle of not complying is daft.. I have a number of times seen incorrect labels and just suggest they check out the details/requirements to the shop or beek. It would only take 1 pain in the butt or annoying beek who’s unhappy your punching his sales to cause a headache that’s easily avoided.

I know but i don't need to YÉT..

 

[Beefriendly]

Personally I think it's safer to follow the guidance, just in case.

Yup, totally agree.
When in doubt go the full monty.
But as a food producer you must also be registered with your local authority.
How many beekeepers have the "correct label" but are illegally selling food by not being registered?

The two local authorities I deal with (Hambledon and Rydale) don't usually bother visiting beekeeper as such low risk ....and as long as registered are fine. But if you need the star hygiene rating (needed to get on many farmers markets) will visit if requested.

 

[Walrus]

But the honey labelling regulations would probably be more appropriate and would almost certainly override anything covered in the above...? until someone points me toward the paragraph that says farm gate sales of honey are exempt from correct labelling .... we should abide by them.

The Honey (England) Regulations 2015
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1348/made
just gives a couple of extra requirements that are honey specific, but the general DEFRA/FSA rules are the bulk of it.

However, I'm not a lawyer. The general guidance applies to selling to consumers so obviously "farm gate sales" would fall into that category.

I agree that the safest thing to do is follow the regs.

 

[Beefriendly]

What I do is follow the advice given by our very helpful environmental health officers and local councils on regulations applying to food suppliers.
If you produce food you must be registered with your local authority.
Full stop.
https://www.gov.uk/food-business-registration

 

[For want of a better word]

Yup, totally agree.
When in doubt go the full monty.
But as a food producer you must also be registered with your local authority.
How many beekeepers have the "correct label" but are illegally selling food by not being registered?

The two local authorities I deal with (Hambledon and Rydale) don't usually bother visiting beekeeper as such low risk ....and as long as registered are fine. But if you need the star hygiene rating (needed to get on many farmers markets) will visit if requested.

In Devon and in Cornwall TS tell me ....only a requirement if selling food to be consumed at the time of purchase... ie cooked Beef Burgers or even suchi salads etc etc!

Chons da

 

[Antipodes]

The law is complicated and varied and depends on where you are in a country (let alone the country you are in!).

The lawyers do not necessarily know all the laws, nor the authorities administering them of course.

One difficulty for the beekeeper is that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

 

[Millet]

This thread has be edited many times and i will not be unhappy if the full thing gets deleted.

 

[pargyle]

This thread has be edited many times and i will not be unhappy if the full thing gets deleted.

Only one done by the moderators by my reckoning ? It's a thread with some very relevant posts for new beekeepers who find they now have a harvest to sell ... why would you delete it ?

 

[Beefriendly]

I think the best advice I can give anyone selling honey is contact your local authority environmental health dept.
They will tell you what is required in your area and give advice on basic labelling. It would seem there are differences between what different authorities require.

 

[Etton]

Lid

This batch has turned out lovely..the main forage at the moment is thistle and phacelia with bramble further afield.

Love the lid (& the pic), do you have a link to the lid supplier?...thanks

 

[Newbeeneil]

Freeman and harding do a range of lids.

https://www.freemanharding.co.uk/search?controller=search&s=Honey+lids