New Honey regs

MuswellMetro said:

according to Mr Ralph NDB it is Produce of UK as that is the EU state/country is you sell retail under the old regs but produce of england/scotland /cornwall was ok for direct sales

so i expect it is produce of UK for all sales now

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Who is "Mr Ralph NDB"?

Sounds like another BBKA type matchstick man

Thymallus said:

If I understand it, which is obviously up for question, as long as "Cut comb honey" has the words "comb honey" there would be nothing incorrect as describing it as "cut comb honey", whereas "cut comb in honey" is reffering to the jars with chunks in. Otherwise there is no legislation for that type of honey.


Okay< I'm now thoroughly confused.

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For once I am totally in agreement with you me old fishy friend!!!!

Yeghes da

You are confused as well?
I'd just like to know the correct answer.

Thymallus said:

You are confused as well?
I'd just like to know the correct answer.

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Yeghes da

That,s the meaning of life. Easy mistake to make. It's the new regulations regarding cut comb that are confusing.

Thymallus said:

That,s the meaning of life. Easy mistake to make. It's the new regulations regarding cut comb that are confusing.

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BUT shirley life would have no meaning without cut comb?

Yeghes da

2.—(2) In these Regulations—

“chunk honey” and “cut comb in honey” mean honeys which contain one or more pieces of comb honey;

“comb honey” means honey stored by bees in the cells of freshly built broodless combs or thin comb foundation sheets made solely of beeswax and sold in sealed whole combs or sections of such combs;

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the former is comb in [added] liquid or set honey, ie not just the comb,
the latter is just the comb (whether a whole comb, or a section thereof), the honey being in sealed cells.

what product do you think isn't covered by the definitions in the regulation?

icanhopit said:

For once I am totally in agreement with you me old fishy friend!!!!

Yeghes da

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yes, he has a long white beard and high up in the BBKA hierarchy, he is also a National honey show judge and disqualified several jars as they were intended for sale at a retail shop (rather than direct Sales) and they should have said Produce of the UK but said Produce of England (

his veiw was i understand that the EU has UK as the country and England/Scotland/wales/cornwall are regions and that the the FSA original guidance notes that imply england can be used as the Country are wrong as for UK legislation the EU views UK as the country

In that you cannot not the various states of a country such as Bavaria or Flanders and therefore england

Since England, wales, northern Ireland and scotland each have to have their own version (although identical apart from the country heading) of the honey regulations then the EU must regard them as seperate countries (states?) of a united kingdom not regions so in my view having "produce of England" on your labels should be OK.

Moreover if you consult the "country of origin labelling guidance" from the Food standards agency
http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/originlabellingguid0909.pdf

see paragraph 20

The Regulations (and the Directive) do not define “country”. The Agency takes ”country” to mean the UK (i.e. the Member State) or the individual country (e.g. “England”, “Scotland”, or “Wales” etc.) where the honey was harvested. Similarly, the Regulations do not lay down a precise form of words that must be used for declaring the individual country (or countries) of origin of honey. So,statements such as “Produce of England”, “UK honey” or “Made from honey harvested in the UK”, or similar forms of words provided they are not misleading, would all be acceptable. [/B][/B]

So in my humble opinion the reported action of the honey judge referred is wrong and should not have eliminated an entry purely on the "Produce of England " label. By the way I don't recognise the honey judge from the description given (and I am senior honey judge and assessor myself) and have met most of them.

There is no-one called Ralph or Mr Ralph on the list of NDB holders. There are only a few holders of the NDB that are qualified to judge honey (and that includes myself) so I am questioning the accuracy of the information from Muswellmetro

I am questioning the accuracy of the information from many self appointed experts who dwell within the vagarious beekeeperersforums with internet availability!.

In the motorcycle concourse world they are known as nuts and bolts men... none owning a machine but prepared to criticise ever nut or bolt with the wrong head or thread! EX Spurts!

Yeghes da