Is raw honey exempt from licensing in Maine?

Not under state law. Maine's statute lists the businesses that need no food establishment license, and honey is not one of them. The exception is a town with a food sovereignty ordinance, for honey you sell directly to consumers there.

Does my honey label need my street address?

DACF's home food guidance asks for the name, address and ZIP code of the producer. Federal rules let you leave off the street address when your business is listed in a current city or phone directory.

Does Maine honey need a Nutrition Facts label?

Maine's home food rule doesn't ask for one. Under federal law, many small beekeepers qualify for the small business exemption as long as the label makes no nutrition or health claims. Write something like "good source of antioxidants" and you need the panel.

What about creamed or infused honey?

Same four label items, with every added ingredient in the ingredient line, heaviest first. Call it what it is, like "Cinnamon Creamed Honey". Mixed with any other sweetener, it is no longer just honey.

Maine Honey Label Requirements

Maine honey label requirements are short: the common name, the ingredients, the net weight and your name, address and ZIP code. That label is needed once a jar leaves your home for a market, a shop or a store shelf. Maine has no honey-specific label rule, so these general rules and the federal ones apply. What you do need first is an apiary license for your bees, and since state law gives honey no licensing exemption, check with DACF before you sell packaged honey.

Make a Maine label Do I need a nutrition label?

Maine honey label requirements: map of the United States with Maine highlighted

Honey jar label

Required on every Maine honey label

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) lists these four items for foods sold outside the home.

Example jar label for Maine wildflower honey with the name, ingredient line, net weight and the beekeeper's name, town and ZIP code

1
Common or usual nameDACF Home Food License 101
For a jar of pure honey that is "Honey". A true floral source works too: "Blueberry Blossom Honey", "Wildflower Honey".
2
Ingredients in order of predominanceDACF Home Food License 101
For pure honey that is one word. Spiced, whipped with cinnamon or infused honey lists every ingredient, heaviest first: "Honey, cinnamon".
3
Net weightDACF Home Food License 101
Honey is sold by weight, like "NET WT 16 oz (454 g)". Federal rules want it in the bottom 30% of the front label.
4
Name, address and ZIP codeDACF Home Food License 101
Of the producer. Your farm or apiary name works with a street address, town and ZIP.
Selling right from your home?No labelMaine's home food rules say a product sold directly to the consumer from the home does not need a label. At a farmers market, a farm stand or in a store, every jar needs the full label.

Maine at a glance

Licenses for Maine beekeepers

Apiary licenseEvery beekeeperEveryone who owns honeybees in Maine tells the state each year where the bees are kept and pays the annual license fee.7 MRSA §2701

Selling packaged honeyAsk DACF firstMaine law lists no licensing exemption for honey, so whether you need a food license depends on how DACF classes your operation. Call before you sell.22 MRSA §2152(4-A)

Home Food License$20 a yearMaine's license for shelf-stable foods made in a home kitchen, sold from home or at retail stores. One kitchen inspection at the start, none every year after.

Food sovereignty townsLocal ordinanceWhere a town adopts a food sovereignty ordinance, the State does not enforce its food laws on the direct sales to consumers it covers. Honey is named in the law.7 MRSA §284

No raw honey exemption in state lawCheck thisSome states let small beekeepers skip food licensing. Maine's statute doesn't: honey is not on the list of businesses that need no food establishment license (farm stands selling fresh produce, single herb dryers and the like). Ask DACF how your setup is classed.22 MRSA §2152(4-A)

Selling in a food sovereignty townMaine's Food Sovereignty Act lists honey as a food a town ordinance can cover, for sales straight from producer to consumer: at your property, roadside stands, farmers markets, deliveries and buying clubs. Sell the same honey to a store and state and federal food rules apply again.7 MRSA §282, §286

The federal side of your jarFederal law adds a Nutrition Facts panel unless you qualify for the small business exemption. If you need one, our Nutrition Facts panels show the standard "Includes Xg Added Sugars" line, which is also correct for pure honey.Honey Labeling Requirements (FDA) →

Sources

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Questions

Maine label questions

For your bees, yes: every Maine beekeeper needs an apiary license. For selling packaged honey, state law has no honey exemption from food licensing, so ask DACF's Quality Assurance and Regulations division how your operation is classed before you offer jars for sale.

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Maine Honey Label Requirements

Required on every Maine honey label

Licenses for Maine beekeepers

Where this comes from

Maine label questions

Do I need a license to sell honey in Maine?−

Is raw honey exempt from licensing in Maine?+

Does my honey label need my street address?+

Does Maine honey need a Nutrition Facts label?+

What about creamed or infused honey?+

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