Irish honey, Chinese bees: Labelling law change makes clear true origins of Irish brands

A change in labelling laws has laid bare how few local bees make even the most Irish-sounding honey, with one of the country’s best-known brands admitting its first stab at transparency has fallen wide of the mark. Under new EU-wide rules, blended honey labels must list exact countries of origin and the percentage of honey from each instead of having vague descriptions such as “a blend of EU and non-EU honeys”, as was commonplace for years.The rules came into force on June 14th but honey put on the market before then was allowed to remain on supermarket shelves. This is why it is only starting to become clear where the honey Irish consumers buy comes from.Most is made by bees far from home, with Asia, Africa and South and Central America far more likely to feature prominently on the packaging.READ MOREHealy Family honey, which is based in Cork, has started telling shoppers that one of its products is made with 90 per cent Chinese honey, with the remaining 10 per cent coming from Tanzania. Co Kilkenny-based Mileveen sells organic honey with the help of Mexican bees.In some cases, the rules have not been implemented as clearly as they should be. Boyne Valley is one of the most popular and widely available honey brands in Ireland and its packaging tells consumers it “has brought the sunshine goodness of natural honey to Irish families since 1960”. Shoppers are assured the product they are buying is “packed in Mell, Drogheda, Co Louth” and that this “100 per cent pure, 100 per cent natural honey is delivered to you just as the bees intended”.But bees from where, exactly?Boyne Valley's Pure & Natural Honey blend is made up of 71 per cent Chinese honey, 21 per cent Spanish and 8 per cent Argentinian On the front of its newly minted bottles, Boyne Valley indicates for the first time that they come far from where the brand name suggests. The label notes that 71 per cent of its “Pure & Natural Honey blend” comes from China, with 21 per cent originating in Spain and 8 per cent in Argentina.The new rules state that the country-of-origin information must be displayed clearly on all packaging, but Boyne Valley labels that have appeared in shops make the countries of origin difficult to read. “Due to a printing error, a number of labels on Boyne Valley Pure & Natural Honey packaging were not as visually clear as intended, impacting the legibility of the ‘country of origin’ details,” a spokesman told The Irish Times. “The issue has been rectified, with updated labelling present on all future batches and expected on shelves in the coming weeks.”The company said that, like many suppliers in Ireland, it “sources honey from a variety of regions to meet consumer demand”. Ireland does not produce nearly enough honey domestically to meet its needs, producing only 2.5 per cent of the total consumed, it said, adding that its Irish Wildflower Honey is sourced directly from Irish beekeepers.