FSANZ calls for comment on native Australian honey

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for public comment on an application by the Australian Native Bee Association Inc. to permit the sale and use of honey produced by Australian native stingless bees as a standardised food in Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Sandra Cuthbert, FSANZ CEO, said a safety assessment has been undertaken to determine the differences between Australian native bee honey and European honeybee honey, as well as to evaluate potential public health and safety concerns.

In the Food Standards Code, the current definition of honey is appropriate to European honeybees. The honey produced by stingless bees has different sugar and moisture content, not meeting the current compositional requirements for honey.

“The application seeks to distinguish these compositional requirements in the Code and establish a definition that is more appropriate for native bee honey,” Cuthbert said.

According to Cuthbert, the FSANZ assessment concluded that consumption of Australian native bee honey at the requested compositional limits does not present a risk to public health if beekeepers apply good hygienic practices.

Submissions close 6 pm, 17 January 2024.

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Image credit: iStock.com/Peter Melkie