Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the definition of honey included in the 2015 Honey England Regulations.

The Honey (England) Regulations 2015 lay down detailed specifications for honey in terms of its composition and quality criteria. One of the aims of these is to protect the use of the reserved description “honey” by setting a minimum expected compositional standard for our market, in order to protect consumers, instil consumer confidence that the honey is what it says it is, create a level playing field for industry, and prevent misleading and fraudulent practices on our market.

Defra periodically reviews food compositional standards legislation to ensure regulations remain fit for purpose. A post-implementation review of the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 in 2021 found that the policy objectives stated in the regulations have been fully realised.

As a result of the review, the definition of honey as a reserved description, the description of different types of honey, and the listing of its minimum compositional standards have remained in place.