Native bee honey given the tick of approval

The Australian Native Bee Association (ANBA) has announced that Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has approved its application to permit the sale and use of honey produced by Australian native stingless bees. FSANZ gazetted the new standard in Amendment No 229 to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code on 22 July 2024.

FSANZ has performed a review of the data provided in the ANBA application, together with other relevant data. Its assessment found “no convincing evidence that consumption of native bee honey at the requested compositional requirements presents a health risk to the general population if beekeepers apply good hygienic practice during harvesting and processing”. Furthermore, FSANZ concluded that “risks to vulnerable populations are comparable to the risks from honeybee honey”.

The ANBA said it was pleased that FSANZ has reached these conclusions. The newly created Food Standard 2.8.3 – Native bee honey provides compositional requirements and labelling rules for Australian native bee honey. The standard also reflects the lower levels of reducing sugars, higher water content and other characteristics which differentiate it from European honeybee honey.

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