Half the health claims on honey labels were not allowed

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50%

of the health claims written on honey labels were prohibited claims

Shelf survey · Tested on the label · 306 honey products on sale in Saudi Arabia

What they did

An observational survey of 306 prepackaged honey products on sale in Saudi Arabia, checking each label against the Saudi Food and Drug Authority's labelling regulations and its technical regulation on health and nutritional claims.

What they found

  • Only 1.96% of products carried any health or nutritional claim at all.
  • Every nutritional claim was compliant. Of the written health claims, 50% were prohibited claims.
  • Of ten labelling components checked, only four reached 90% compliance or better.
  • Natural honey and Sidr honey were the most common types in the sample.

What this study does not show

  • This is about labels, not about honey. It tells you nothing about what any honey does.
  • The regulator is Saudi. Australia's rules are FSANZ and the TGA, and they are not identical.
  • A shelf survey in one market at one moment. It is not proof that any particular seller is doing this.

Why we publish it

This is the study that explains why the rest of this page is written the way it is. Honey is one of the easiest foods in the world to make a promise about. Half of the people who did it were not allowed to.

The study.
Almutairi LA, Alqahtani AS. Compliance investigation of honey-packaged food labels and claims in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Food Science, 2025.
doi.org/10.1155/ijfo/7113620

What this page is. These are summaries of published research about honey as a substance. They are not claims about DIVINEDROP products. No DIVINEDROP honey diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents any disease. Honey is a sugar-rich food, it is not suitable for infants under 12 months, and anyone managing a health condition should speak to their doctor.

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