Is Organic Honey Really Organic?

Organic honey has wonderful health benefits. It’s a potent source of carbohydrates that help keep you active. In Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine it’s been used to treat stress, insomnia, sore throats and coughs.

The best part? It’s a delicious natural sweetener, making a perfect healthy alternative to processed sugar if you want to sweeten up a cup of tea.

So you’re looking for organic honey. It should be a simple matter of finding it in your local supermarket, right?

If you’re living in the US, it’s not that straightforward because of complications within the USDA certification process.

Add the fact that most USDA certified organic originates from Brazil or Mexico and you’ll begin to worry about who actually determines what is organic or nonorganic.

It’s mostly because these countries do no have any government agency regulating and certifying the “official” organic stickers slapped on them.

The EU has clear specifications on what organic honey is.

First of all, the area immediately surrounding the cultivated beehives (usually the average area a bee can cover) must be certifiably free of any chemicals or pesticides banned by the EU.

Second, all of the cultivated beehives need to be free of synthetic chemicals or materials. This means that bee farmers cannot use heavy chemical to deal with any termites that might attack their hives.

So if you’re in Europe, buying organic is stress-free because there is a very thorough regulatory system in place to make sure everything is up to par.

What’s the main issue with USDA organic honey?

It lacks the clarity and enforcement that EU organic honey has in its seal of approval.

The USDA only provides the information on what qualifies as organic; it offers no actual certification that honey is indeed organic. Official certifiers are third party agencies outsourced by USDA.

The problem is that certifiers can create and enforce their own criteria when it comes to what makes organic honey really organic. There is no uniform regulation on what defines organic honey.

That means that the USDA sticker may not necessarily mean that the “certified” honey is what you imagine to be organic honey.

This lack of oversight does not really reflect a nefarious purpose. It’s more of an issue that legislation has not been able to keep up with the speed that the organic honey market is growing at.

But say you want to enjoy organic honey in the US and you want to buy locally. Fear not, I have some tips on how to purchase and find viable and local organic honey.

First, make sure to avoid buying any organic honey from Brazil or Mexico because their regulations play it fast and loose with what makes organic really organic.

Once you find a local or at least American brand of honey, try to find out (usually by visiting a website) that the harvested beehives were not exposed to Apistan strips or coumaphos, chemicals commonly used to protect beehives from termites.

Until regulation comes through, these tips should help you keep a supply of real organic honey for your next cup of turmeric tea.