Kentucky Honey Label Requirements
Kentucky honey label requirements start with a short state law, KRS 217.187: sell less than 500 gallons a year of pure honey you produced in Kentucky, and you need no certified honey house and no state permit. The rest of Kentucky's food law still applies, so the jar carries the label basics: the name "honey", the net weight, and who packed it. Add anything to the honey and the exemption no longer fits.
Required on every Kentucky jar of pure honey
The honey exemption skips the honey house and the permit, not the label. You still follow the other provisions of the Kentucky Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (KRS 217.005 to 217.215), so label it like any packaged food.
- 1The name "honey"21 CFR 101.3Pure honey is called "honey". Name a floral source, like "Clover Honey", only when that plant really is the chief source.
- 2Net weight21 CFR 101.7Honey is sold by weight. A one pound jar reads "NET WT 16 OZ (1 LB) 454 g".
- 3Name and place of business21 CFR 101.5You or your farm, with street address, city, state and ZIP code.
- 4No ingredient listPure honey is a single-ingredient food, so the name covers it.
- 5Pure means pureKRS 217.187The exemption covers "pure and unadulterated honey" only. Honey stretched with syrup, or mixed with fruit or spices, is a different product with different rules.
- Growing past 500 gallons?Plan aheadThe exemption covers less than 500 gallons a year of honey you produced in Kentucky. Beyond that, plan for a certified honey house or a food processing establishment with a permit from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
The Kentucky honey exemption at a glance
Where this comes from
- Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.187The honey exemption: under 500 gallons a year, no honey house or permit
- Kentucky Acts chapter 21 (House Bill 391), An act relating to honeyThe act that set the 500-gallon limit
- 902 KAR 45:090, Home-based processing and home-based microprocessingAllowed home-based foods, registration, fee and where to sell
- Kentucky Senate Bill 73 (Acts chapter 52): home-based processorsAmends KRS 217.015 and 217.136: home-based processor rules and label items ($60,000 limit in KRS 217.015)
Kentucky label questions
Not if you sell less than 500 gallons a year of pure honey that you produced in Kentucky. The law then waives both the certified honey house and the permit from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Not under the exemption. KRS 217.187 only covers honey you produced in Kentucky yourself. Rebottling someone else's honey falls outside it, so talk to the Food Safety Branch about a permit first.
No. The statute says you still comply with the other provisions of Kentucky's food law. Print the name, net weight and your name and address on every jar.
Yes, as a registered home-based processor. Candy, granola and trail mix are on the allowed list. Register with the Food Safety Branch, pay the $50 yearly fee and sell directly to consumers.
Kentucky's honey law doesn't add one. Under federal rules, small sellers can often skip it with FDA's small business exemptions, as long as the label makes no nutrition claims. Our free quiz checks it in a minute. Do I Need a Nutrition Label? →
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