Honningcentralen supplies only genuine honey!
Honningcentralen is a cooperative of more than 1,000 Norwegian beekeepers. We were established in 1927. We receive Norwegian honey from our beekeepers for resale mainly to the Norwegian grocery and food service market.
In addition to our Norwegian honey, we import honey from selected countries. We do this both because the availability of Norwegian honey can vary from year to year, and because we want to offer Norwegian consumers naturally liquid honey in addition to the Norwegian solid/spreadable honey. Naturally liquid honey comes from flowers that unfortunately are found only to a limited extent in Norwegian flora.
Measures against fake honey
Honey is among the raw materials on the world market that are most frequently adulterated. In Norway, however, we have a good overview of the honey operators. All imported honey is thoroughly controlled under very strict analysis conditions. Quality defects or adulteration will be detected. Honningcentralen nevertheless advises against importing honey from certain countries that have been involved in food fraud. The challenge of honey and other food adulteration has been known for years, and significant resources are used to prevent fake honey from being imported into our country.
In Norway, we have a specific regulation that defines what honey is: https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2003-07-08-931
According to this regulation, only pure, genuine honey may be called honey. Many other countries – including the entire EU – have similar regulations, but the Norwegian regulation is particularly strict. It is of course permitted to add nuts, other flavors or other ingredients to honey, but it must be clearly stated what has been added – for example “walnuts in honey” or “Topping with agave and honey.”
Strict control routines at Honningcentralen
Honningcentralen has very strict routines for control and analysis of all honey we receive – both imported and Norwegian. The honey we import is analyzed and approved by an external laboratory both before it is sent to us and after we have received it. In addition, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority conducts inspections. The Norwegian honey from Honningcentralen is also analyzed and approved before it ends up, for example, in the well-known orange tin box. All our Norwegian honey comes from beekeepers approved through the agricultural sector’s own quality system – “KSL.” We also recommend purchasing only KSL-approved Norwegian honey at local markets and similar venues.
Strict control routines at Honningcentralen ensure that you can be completely confident that all honey from us – both imported and Norwegian – is genuine honey.
Origin labeling of honey – NYT NORGE
Genuine Norwegian honey is clearly labeled with the “Nyt Norge” mark. Imported honey is labeled with the country or countries from which the honey originates. In some cases, the honey is labeled with the collective terms “countries outside the EU” or “countries in Europe outside the EU,” but soon it will be a requirement that the specific country or countries of origin for the honey are stated on the packaging.