How can honey provenance be demonstrated?

Connect the origin to the jar

A location on a label is a starting point. The practical question is whether the business can connect that statement to the honey in the jar.

For a beekeeper’s own honey, useful information might connect the apiary or source location, harvest period, extraction batch, storage container and packing lot. The records should reflect how the operation actually works.

A simple example

An extraction batch, H-001, is placed in two numbered storage containers. A packing record shows which container was used for lot P-001 and how many jars were filled. The lot appears on the jars and relevant dispatch records.

If the containers are combined or honey from another batch is added, the packing record should identify those source batches too. This example illustrates a record connection; it is not an adopted THS record format.

Information worth keeping connected

Source and identity: who produced or supplied the honey, relevant locations and source-batch references.

Movement and handling: receipt or transfer dates, quantities, containers, extraction or packing references and any blending.

Finished product: the connection between input batches, output lots and the description used for sale. Relevant records should be retrievable when a question arises.

Traceability and authenticity answer different questions

A connected record can show the documented journey of a batch. It does not, by itself, establish every aspect of its composition or prove that every record is accurate.

Useful assurance examines whether the account is consistent with the operation, quantities and other evidence. Laboratory results can add information where they are relevant to the question being investigated.

Use existing systems where they work

A clear spreadsheet, paper record or software system may be useful if it creates a reliable connection. Avoid recording the same fact repeatedly in different places unless there is a practical reason.

The FSA publishes traceability and recall resources for food businesses. THS is developing its scheme-specific requirements separately; this introductory guide does not replace applicable food-business obligations.

Sources and further reading

Food Standards Agency: traceability, withdrawals and recalls resources

External sources inform this introduction; their authors have not endorsed THS. Published research should be read in its original context.

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