B-TRACE Australia

Are you up to date with the food label laws?

The information that is required on your honey labelling in Australia and New Zealand is prescribed by the Food Standards Code. Complying with the honey labelling requirements of the Food Standards Code will ensure that your honey can be sold legally. All packaged foods sold in Australia must comply with the labelling requirements stated within the Food Standards Code. 

The importance of good labelling

Additional labelling information

In addition to attracting customers to the product, the label on honey should give the following information.

1. The name of the food. Packaged food must be labelled with a name or description that will not mislead consumers. “Honey” is a prescribed name, and that name must appear on the label.

2. Source of the honey (e.g. yellow gum, mixed floral, orange blossom); should also be shown.

3. Weight of the contents (e.g. 500g)

Research suggests that consumers want quick and accurate information to help decide what food to buy.

Food labels are required by law to carry essential information so that consumers are informed of the nature and properties of foods prior to purchase – this includes statements about the presence of allergenic ingredients. Some information may also voluntarily be offered on food labels by food businesses, giving consumers greater information to make informed purchasing choices. Food businesses must also ensure that they are not potentially misleading or deceiving consumers with any claims that are made on food labels (whether intentional or not).

Therefore, food labels need to be clear, consistent and honest. It is against the law for suppliers to mislead or lie about where their food product comes from. 

Labelling specific to Australian producers

If a priority food was grown, produced or made in Australia, its country-of-origin label will also feature:

• A kangaroo in a triangle logo to help you quickly identify that the food is Australian in origin.

• A bar chart and text identifying the proportion of Australian content in the food.

As a honey or honey products vendor it is likely that you will be required to comply with the Country of Origin (Australian) Food Labelling Information Standard of 2016 (The Standard).

The standard marks are for food products that were grown, or produced, or made (substantially transformed) with 100% Australian ingredients. The standard mark will have the kangaroo logo, full bar chart and text. All the below are acceptable marks (logos) for raw honey.

Honey is classed as a priority food and the label must be present on the product. It Is illegal to use logos as above without an explanation clearly showing the percentage of Australian content in raw honey.

All examples above should show the full bar infill and  include “100%  Australian Honey” text.

The words “Australian Honey”, “Product of Australia” “Produce of Australia” “Produced in Australia” or “Made in Australia” are all acceptable. Priority foods can only claim to be produced or grown in Australia if they contain 100 per cent Australian ingredients.

The standard does not set a minimum size for the country-of-origin element on your labels, only that it

must be displayed in its entirety in English, be legible and prominent. In other words, be clearly visible so consumers can understand it.

The standard allows for packages with a surface area of less than 100cm² to omit the kangaroo and bar chart elements and simply include the explanatory words in a box.

Honey Standards

In other words, to meet the code, the honey on your frames should be mostly capped (and therefore de-hydrated or “ripened” by your bees). This also means that your honey won’t ferment and will have a longer shelf life.

The composition of honey varies from one floral source to another. The average composition of Australian honey produced from native and exotic plants is: water 15.6%, fructose 42.5%, glucose 30.6%, sucrose 2.9%, minerals 0.16% and other constituents 8.24%.

Honey is a natural food. Every effort must be made to maintain its natural qualities during processing and storage and to ensure it has a long shelf life. It should receive minimum heat treatment. 

Product Identification

It is essential that each batch of honey produced be identified so that the product is traceable in the event of a recall (B-QUAL program allows this without any additional recording). Honey recalls are rare due to the stable nature of the food. However, honey is not exempt from the requirements.

The Food Standards Code 1.2.2 has details of lot identification as

A “lot” is defined as a quantity of food which is prepared or packed under virtually the same conditions, usually from a particular preparation or packing unit and during a specific time ordinarily not exceeding 24 hours.

Your lot identification can take many forms however it is typically the harvest, extraction or the packing date.

For example, if you extract honey once in 2018, then your lot identification could be “2018”.  In a better year where you extract honey in January, March or April your lot identifications could be “01/18”, “Mar2018”, or “04/2018”.

The lot identification on your honey labelling can also be a best-before date provided you can correlate the best-before date to a specific batch of honey.

The Name and Address of Supplier

All honey labelling must include your name and address. The Food Standards Code 1.2.2 specifies this requirement.

The label must show:

• Your name or your registered business name
• Street address, including number street name, town or suburb, state and post code
• You cannot use a post box number or a website address as an alternative to physical address details. You can include such detail on your packaging but not as the main contact source.

Health or allergy warning statements

Honey on its own does not require any health or allergy warning statements.

• You do NOT have to declare the presence of pollen, propolis or royal jelly on your honey labelling.
• Similarly, your labelling does NOT have to carry a warning about not feeding honey to infants under 12 months of age due to the risk of botulism.

Under the label standard bee pollen only needs to be declared when the pollen itself is presented as food or if pollen is an ingredient in food. It is advisable to add an “advisory statement” if selling bee pollen or propolis separately. An example of an advisory statement can be:

Propolis and royal jelly are treated precisely the same. Further information can be found in Food Standards Code Schedule 9 Mandatory Advisory Statements.

Nutritional and ingredient information

The Food Standards Code 1.2.5 states that date marking is not required on food with a best-before date of 2 years or more.

Weights and Measures

In Australia, it is normal to indicate the net weight of the honey in the package rather than volume. The weights should be expressed in kilograms (kg) or grams (g). Weights and measures declarations are regulated in Australia by the Australian National Measurement Institute.

Remember to include 100% text if you produced your own honey.

It is imperative that you never mislead your customers by making representations about your honey that are not true. In general terms, you must be able to substantiate any claims you make, and this may mean that you have to keep documentation in support of your claims. This is where B-QUAL documentation will assist.

For added customer satisfaction include your B-QUAL logo on your container.

Additional Labelling Notes

Lastly, it is valuable if label space allows providing additional product information for the consumer, such as explanations and taste descriptions.

In order to do so use creativity. Some beekeepers provide information to their customers about the granulation of honey and how to liquefy it should it set hard.

It is important to point out that granulation or candying of honey is a natural process, and that the quality of the product is not affected at all, nor has it gone bad.

A text that candied honey may be reliquefied by placing the container in a hot water bath at preferably 35 °C but certainly no more than 45 °C until liquefied would be advisable.

Labelling disclaimer

Label laws are quite comprehensive the above is not intended to be the complete guide to labelling. Laws are administered by each State or Territory please check with your local food authority for complete information on their particular requirements.

Easing the capture of quality data – a brand-new voice input system

Capturing quality B-QUAL data – even with sticky fingers!

This project brings together B-QUAL Australia, in partnership with Y-Trace, the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) at the University of Western Australia and the Noongar Land Enterprise. Together, we are developing a speech-to-text system and bespoke Artificial Intelligence. This innovative system will capture observations in the field, even while actively working. For safety, earphones were selected to capture speech whilst still allowing communication with fellow workers.

Our project is not just about innovation but also about security. By leveraging Blockchain and the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), we are creating an immutable record of traceability data. This secure system will safeguard terroir information required for a fine food, making it publicly available to export customers to prove authenticity. Security is a top priority, and we are committed to ensuring the integrity of your data for all stakeholders. 

The current challenges with the B-QUAL honey traceability system are largely due to inefficiencies in data input. While the digitisation of B-QUAL led to the quick adoption of the system, the input of observations was slow. This lack of data input seems to be a widespread issue in the industry, which is understandable when trying to enter data while wearing gloves or dealing with sticky fingers and meeting the demands of beekeeping husbandry.

A conversation with the astronomers at ICRAR, University of Western Australia, identified that this issue could be resolved through voice capture, even with the challenge of different accents, and converted into valuable data to prove source authenticity. We realised this data capture needed to be linked to data security and the controlled release by the beekeeper to customers.

Beekeepers are particularly sensitive to sharing precise apiary site locations and some biosecurity data. We know this data protection can be achieved using blockchain. The project team will seek agreement on the data needed for customer confidence in authenticity.

This one-year project is already underway, and we are excited about the progress. If you’d like to learn more or discuss the project, please email us at hello@ytrace.com.au or call Liz Barbour on 0406 505 525.

Join B-TRACE QA and Food Safety Program:

“Accurate record keeping is the backbone of a successful food safety program.”

Food safety is crucial for maintaining health standards and ensuring that food doesn’t cause harm to consumers. One vital aspect that everyone involved in food production, from farmers, food manufacturers, and beekeepers must focus on is strict record keeping. Joining the B-TRACE QA and Food Safety Program is one way to help achieve this goal and enhance food safety practices by using the B-TRACE hive management app.

The B-TRACE program encourages small medium enterprise beekeeping operators to put reliable, systematic practices in place to ensure that all aspects of food safety are handled correctly.

What is B-TRACE?

B-TRACE could stand for “Building Traceability Assurance for Compliance and Excellence.” The program is designed to equip beekeepers with the tools and knowledge they need to ensure food safety from apiary to consumer.

The primary aim of B-TRACE is to enable operators to track and monitor every aspect of honey production. This includes gathering, processing, packaging, and distribution. Keeping accurate records allows businesses to pinpoint any problematic areas before they lead to significant issues. 

Why Join B-TRACE?

There are several reasons why being a part of the B-TRACE QA and Food Safety Program is beneficial:

1. **Enhanced Safety Standards**: By joining B-TRACE, you align your practices with industry standards that emphasize food safety and quality.

2. **Improved Traceability**: With the use of the B-TRACE hive management app you can easily trace products. This is critical in the event of a food recall.

3. **Better Consumer Confidence**: When customers know that a company is dedicated to safety, they are more likely to trust its products.

4. **Regulatory Compliance**: Participating in B-TRACE helps ensure that your organization meets all industry standards and  requirements for food safety and record keeping.

**Statistics show** that businesses with strong record keeping are less likely to experience safety violations. Keeping accurate records allows companies to identify trends and improve their safety protocols effectively. As part of B-TRACE, you will have access to templates and software designed to simplify this process.

Benefits of Effective Record Keeping

1. **Liability Protection**: In case of illness reports or food recalls, having excellent records can protect your business legally.

2. **Operational Efficiency**: When everything is documented, it becomes easier and quicker to find crucial information, thereby allowing for better decision-making.

3. **Employee Training**: Records provide a history of incidents and safety measures. They are valuable tools for training employees on food safety practices.

4. **Quality Control**: Systematic record keeping can help identify areas for quality improvement.

Make the move now contact BTRACE via www.btrace.com.au or phone 07 4994 9820

Notices

Our Sponsors:

We acknowledge and thank Steritech and the CMV Group for their valuable ongoing support of B-QUAL and B-TRACE which assists us to continue to participate in research and industry development works which we see as important to our industry.

Please support those who support us.

Contact details

General enquiries for B-QUAL & B-TRACE:

Office: All enquiries. Phone: 07 4994 9820

B-QUAL email: admin@bqual.com.au

B-TRACE email: admin@btrace.com.au

Newsletter disclaimer:

Material and information published in the B-QUAL newsletter, is produced for general information only. Although published in good faith, the company and/or any officer of the company will not be liable for any loss suffered by any person for action taken on the basis of such information.