Raw Honey Guide
Original research · n = 304 listings

Who actually certifies the honey on the shelf?

We recorded every certification on the labels of our 304-listing honey catalogue, each listing checked against a live product page on October 7, 2026. Only 22 listings (7.2%) carry any certification. At $50 and up the rate is 26.7%. In the $15–$25 band it is 4.7%.

That is not evidence of fraud. It shows which certifications producers pay for, and that no seal is the normal case for single-variety honey.

Last updated:

Methodology at /learn/methodology · dataset CC BY 4.0 at /open-data

Listings audited
304
222 brands · 15 countries + Other
Any certification
7.2%
22 of 304
Cert rate, $50+
26.7%
4 of 15 · all UMF Mānuka
Cert rate, $15–$25
4.7%
5 of 106 listings

Cert rate follows price, not quality

Split the 304 listings into four tiers by listing midpoint price and compute the share of each tier carrying at least one certification:

  • Groceryunder $15
    5.8%8 / 139
  • Artisan$15–$25
    4.7%5 / 106
  • Specialty$25–$50
    11.4%5 / 44
  • Luxury$50+
    26.7%4 / 15

What this says. Certification is a recurring cost for the producer, easier to carry on a $60 jar than a $12 one. The $50+ tier is where Mānuka sits (7 of its 15 listings), and Mānuka buyers expect a UMF grade: every certified listing in that tier is UMF Mānuka.

Who certifies, by origin country

Origins with at least 4 listings, sorted by certification rate. New Zealand leads because of UMF. No listing from Italy, France, Spain, Greece, the UK, Germany or Hungary records one: European producers often rely on PDO / PGI regional designations instead, which we do not count as a certification field.

  • New Zealand
    39%
    11/28
  • Mexico
    33%
    2/6
  • Brazil
    25%
    2/8
  • Australia
    6% · 1/17
  • USA
    4% · 5/134
  • Other
    3% · 1/35
  • Italy
    0% · 0/12
  • France
    0% · 0/10
  • Spain
    0% · 0/10
  • Canada
    0% · 0/9
  • Greece
    0% · 0/9
  • UK
    0% · 0/7
  • Germany
    0% · 0/6
  • Hungary
    0% · 0/5
  • Turkey
    0% · 0/5

Who certifies, by floral source

Floral sources with at least 5 listings. Mānuka leads at 58.8% (10 of 17); 8 of those carry UMF. Clover is next at 18.8% (3 of 16). 10 of the 16 named floral sources charted have no certified listing.

  • Manuka
    59%
    10/17
  • Clover
    19% · 3/16
  • Blueberry
    14% · 1/7
  • Eucalyptus
    11% · 2/18
  • Linden
    8% · 1/12
  • Wildflower
    6% · 2/33
  • Other
    3% · 3/99
  • Acacia
    0% · 0/16
  • Orange Blossom
    0% · 0/14
  • Sourwood
    0% · 0/12
  • Buckwheat
    0% · 0/10
  • Chestnut
    0% · 0/9
  • Heather
    0% · 0/9
  • Lavender
    0% · 0/9
  • Avocado
    0% · 0/8
  • Tupelo
    0% · 0/8
  • Sage
    0% · 0/7

What each program actually verifies

Five programs account for every certification we recorded. We add a sixth card for MGO, which is a lab reading rather than a certification, because 16 Mānuka listings print it as prominently as a seal.

USDA Organic

USDA National Organic Program

Share of catalog6 listings · 2.0%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

Federal organic seal; 6 listings (2%) carry it.

What it verifies: Bees forage land where no prohibited synthetic pesticides or fertilisers have been applied for three years; hives are treated with NOP-allowed substances only; extraction and packing are audited.

What it does not verify: Does not guarantee the honey is raw, single-floral, or unheated. The USDA has never published a final raw-honey-specific organic standard, so "USDA Organic" on a honey jar relies on the NOP crop / livestock rules adapted by a certifier.

Examples in catalog: Kevala Organic Raw Oaxaca Honey (Mexico); Wedderspoon USDA Certified Organic Raw Mānuka Honey MGO 100+ (New Zealand); Bee Harmony Eucalyptus Raw Organic Honey (Brazil); 1992 Honey Co Organic Aroeira Honey (Brazil).

Organic vs non-organic honey →

UMF (5+ → 25+)

Unique Mānuka Factor — Mānuka Honey Appellation Society

Share of catalog8 listings · 2.6%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

New Zealand–only programme verifying four chemical markers in genuine mānuka.

What it verifies: Four lab-measured markers — MGO, leptosperin, DHA, and HMF — plus chain-of-custody from licensed NZ producer to jar. Every UMF grade (5+/10+/15+/20+/25+) corresponds to an MGO range. UMF 20+ ≈ MGO 829+.

What it does not verify: Only applies to NZ mānuka. A "KFactor" or "Active" rating is not UMF. Jars labelled "MGO 250+" without a UMF licence have lab evidence for MGO alone — not the full 4-marker authentication.

Examples in catalog: Comvita UMF 5+ Mānuka Honey (New Zealand); Comvita UMF 10+ Mānuka Honey (New Zealand); Egmont Honey Mānuka Honey MGO 515+ UMF 15+ (New Zealand); New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka Honey UMF 20+ MGO 829+ (New Zealand).

UMF vs MGO vs KFactor explained →

Non-GMO Project

Non-GMO Project Verified

Share of catalog6 listings · 2.0%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

North-American seal attesting the honey does not contain detectable GMO pollen.

What it verifies: Honey was tested against the Non-GMO Project Standard, including pollen analysis for GMO-derived crops (canola, soy, corn, alfalfa) where applicable. Verified independently by an approved technical administrator.

What it does not verify: Does not imply organic practices. Honey has naturally low GMO-detection risk because bees forage widely; for many unifloral honeys the seal adds little beyond marketing.

Examples in catalog: Egmont Honey Mānuka Honey MGO 515+ UMF 15+ (New Zealand); New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka Honey UMF 20+ MGO 829+ (New Zealand); Egmont Honey Mānuka Honey UMF 25+ (MGO 1200+) (New Zealand); NOW Foods Manuka Honey, Creamy MGO 250 (New Zealand).

True Source

True Source Certified

Share of catalog2 listings · 0.7%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

Chain-of-custody audit against honey laundering.

What it verifies: End-to-end traceability from named apiary or beekeeper cooperative to the packer, with third-party audits. Designed to address trans-shipment fraud (e.g., the 2013 U.S. "Honeygate" case, where $180M of Chinese honey was relabelled through third countries).

What it does not verify: Not a quality or authenticity marker by itself. A True Source jar is traceable — but may still be filtered, pasteurised, or blended across regions.

Examples in catalog: Busy Bee Raw Dakota Clover Honey (USA); Bee Harmony Eucalyptus Raw Organic Honey (Brazil).

The Chinese honey-laundering story →

Kosher

Kosher certification — agency seal such as OU, OK or Star-K

Share of catalog7 listings · 2.3%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

A kosher agency has inspected the product and its packing facility; 7 listings carry a kosher seal.

What it verifies: That the honey, any added ingredients and the packing facility meet kosher dietary rules, as inspected by the certifying agency. Plain honey is usually straightforward; the seal matters most for infused and flavoured products and shared packing lines.

What it does not verify: Does not address whether the honey is raw, its floral source, its country of origin or adulteration with syrups.

Examples in catalog: Honey Acres Clover Honey (USA); Busy Bee Raw Dakota Clover Honey (USA); Honey Acres Vanilla Honey Spread (USA); New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka Honey UMF 20+ MGO 829+ (New Zealand).

MGO (label only)

Methylglyoxal rating — printed on jar, not a certification

Share of catalog16 listings · 5.3%

Bar scaled 5× for legibility.

16 of 17 Mānuka listings state an MGO grade; 8 of those also carry a UMF licence.

What it verifies: A lab has reported an MGO value in mg/kg for a specific batch (typically a contract lab commissioned by the producer). MGO tracks price in the catalogue: on October 7, 2026, price ≈ $19.19 + $0.0979 × MGO across 16 graded Mānuka listings, r² = 0.59.

What it does not verify: MGO alone is not a certification. It does not verify NZ origin, leptosperin (proof of mānuka nectar source), or chain of custody. A "550+ MGO" jar with no UMF number relies on the producer and lab alone — trust depends on who they are.

Examples in catalog: Manuka MGO 100+ through MGO 850+ (various brands).

MGO → Price scatter widget →

How to shop with this in mind

  • For mānuka: insist on UMF. Saudi, Emirati, and Hong Kong food-safety surveys put the mānuka fraud rate above 60% in some retail samples. UMF runs the four-marker lab test plus chain of custody from licensed NZ producer to jar. MGO-only is a partial signal; UMF is a full one.
  • For commodity / bulk honey from known-risk origins: look for True Source. The 2013 Honeygate case showed that trans-shipment fraud (relabelling Chinese honey through third countries) is a real, convicted-in-federal-court problem. True Source audits the chain of custody.
  • For US raw honey: USDA Organic is nice-to-have, not disqualifying. 92.8% of the catalogue records no certification. Ask about apiary location, harvest month, and whether the jar is filtered or unfiltered — those signals carry more weight than the seal for small-batch US producers.
  • For European honey: look for PDO / PGI. EU geographic indications ("Miel de Provence" PGI, "Miele della Lunigiana" PDO, "Melithermia Helladas") do what USDA Organic does in a different idiom — they verify a specific, inspected practice for a named region. A Greek or Spanish jar with no seal is often PDO-backed in a way our catalog does not yet count.
  • Non-GMO Project Verified is a marketing signal, not a quality one. Honey has naturally low GMO-detection risk. When a jar carries Non-GMO, it means the producer paid for the audit; it rarely tells you anything new about the honey.

Known limits of this audit

  • PDO / PGI is not counted. EU Protected Designation of Origin seals are real third-party verification but live in the description field of the catalog, not in the certification enum. That understates European cert rates.
  • Producer-owned ratings are excluded. KFactor (Wedderspoon / ManukaGuard) and BioActive (Manuka Doctor) are proprietary brand programs, not third-party audits. This audit counts only independent certifiers.
  • Equivalency collapse. EU Organic, Australian Certified Organic, and BioSuisse are separate schemes but recorded under a single USDA_ORGANIC flag when the brand sells cross-market. A future pass will split these out.
  • Curated catalogue, not a retail census. The 304 listings are single-variety and regional honeys. Supermarket brands are not included, so this says nothing about the grocery aisle’s certification rate.
  • Snapshot, checked October 7, 2026. An earlier version of this page (May 2026) used a 210-listing catalogue that had not been checked against live product pages. Its figures and product examples are withdrawn.
  • Label at face value. We record what the jar says. We do not run confirmation testing. Known-fraudulent jars caught elsewhere would not appear as fraudulent here; conversely, a small beekeeper following organic practice without certifying shows up as uncertified.

Frequently asked questions

What does "only 7.2% of the catalogue is certified" mean?▾
Of the 304 honeys we list, 22 record at least one certification on the label: USDA Organic (6), UMF (8), Non-GMO Project (6), True Source (2), Kosher (7). 6 listings carry more than one seal, so the program counts add up to more than 22. The other 282 listings record none. That is not a quality verdict: certification is a paid audit, and many producers who sell through their own website or at markets do not buy one.
Why is the certification rate higher for expensive honey?▾
By listing midpoint: 5.8% under $15, 4.7% at $15–$25, 11.4% at $25–$50 and 26.7% at $50 and up. 7 of the 15 listings at $50 and up are Mānuka, and every certified listing in that tier is UMF Mānuka: Mānuka is the one honey where buyers expect a grading licence for the price. Audit costs are also easier to carry on a $60 jar than on a $12 one.
Which origins certify the most?▾
New Zealand leads at 39.3% (11 of 28); 8 of those 11 carry a UMF licence. The USA, with the most listings, is at 3.7% (5 of 134); 5 of those carry a kosher seal. No listing from Italy, France, Spain, Greece, the UK, Germany or Hungary records a certification. Many European producers sell under PDO / PGI regional designations instead, which we do not count as a certification field.
Why do the European listings show no certifications?▾
European honey is often sold under an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), which verifies where and how a named regional honey is produced. Those designations are not in our certification field, so they do not count here. EU organic seals also exist; when a listing carries one we record it as organic. Small European producers, like small U.S. ones, often sell without any audit. A missing seal in this audit is a gap in what we count, not evidence of lower quality.
Is uncertified honey automatically lower quality?▾
No. The US does not have a finalised federal raw-honey organic standard; USDA Organic certification for American honey relies on adapting crop rules written for field crops, which is why many skilled raw beekeepers choose not to certify. Small-batch producers selling at farmers markets, via CSA-style honey shares, or through their own website often meet an equivalent practice bar but cannot justify the $2k–$5k annual audit cost. The honest read: a certification seal is a useful signal, but the absence of one is not a red flag by itself. What matters more for an uncertified jar is provenance specificity — a named apiary, a named beekeeper, a declared harvest month.
How should a shopper use this data?▾
Treat certification as a signal, not a verdict. For mānuka, insist on UMF: the fraud rate for unverified mānuka is high enough that a UMF licence is worth the premium. For commodity honey from countries with known adulteration histories (large-volume bulk jars from Turkey, China, Argentina), True Source Certified is the main backstop against laundered honey. For US raw honey, USDA Organic is nice-to-have but absence is not disqualifying — ask about apiary location, harvest date, and filtering practice. For European honey, PDO / PGI country-specific seals often substitute for the North American certification stack.
Which brands run the most certified product lines?▾
After the October 7, 2026 product review (304 rows, every one checked against a live product page), the brands with more than one certified jar are Egmont Honey (UMF 15+ and UMF 25+ Mānuka, both Non-GMO Project Verified), Comvita (UMF 5+ and UMF 10+) and Honey Acres (three kosher Wisconsin jars). New Zealand Honey Co.'s UMF 20+ jar stacks UMF, Non-GMO and kosher on one label. Mānuka is the clearest case of certification as product strategy: each brand prices its jars up the UMF ladder.
What is missing from this audit that you are working on?▾
Three gaps. First, we do not yet record PDO / PGI / Geographic Indication seals as a structured field — they currently live in free-text descriptions, so they are not countable here. Second, KFactor (ManukaGuard) and BioActive (Manuka Doctor) are producer-owned rating systems, not third-party certifications, and are excluded from this count. Third, organic equivalency schemes (EU Organic, BioSuisse, Australian Certified Organic) are not separately tracked — when a jar carries EU Organic we record it as USDA_ORGANIC if the brand sells into both markets, which understates non-US organic programs. A future pass will split these out.

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