Jul. 28, 2025
The term “raw honey” doesn’t officially mean anything, so it causes a lot of confusion among consumers. Either they want to buy only raw honey, or they want to avoid it entirely. Sadly, the only difference between two packages may be the label. The whole mess reminds me of the “all-natural” debacle: everyone has an opinion of what natural means, but no one knows for sure. The FDA website says, “FDA has not engaged in rule-making to establish a formal definition for the term ‘natural.’”
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Because of all the confusion, the National Honey Board has come up with its own definition. They describe raw honey as “honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat.” But as the honey board points out, this definition carries no legal weight.
The FDA website says, “It is widely accepted that raw honey is honey which was not filtered or heated above normal ambient temperature.” This, too, contains lots of ambiguity. Does “ambient temperature” mean outside on a hot day or can it mean inside a heated building? And where does straining stop and filtering begin?
Other sources say that raw means unpasteurized, and that the slight amount of heat used to facilitate straining and bottling doesn’t count. Wikipedia says that some “minimally processed” honey is sold as raw. Other sites argue that warming the bottled honey just before sale to make it liquid again also doesn’t count. So where do we draw the line? Is heated honey raw or not? How do you define “heated?” And what is “minimally processed?”
But the confusion runs deep. Due to concerns that honey is unsafe for young infants, many consumers want to buy only pasteurized honey. But that reasoning is flawed. Pasteurized honey is just as unsafe for infants as raw honey because pasteurization does not kill botulism spores.
In situations like these, the word “raw” is construed to mean “not cooked.” With that thought in mind, these consumers reason that if it’s not raw, it must be cooked, and cooking makes it safe for infants. None of this is true. Pressure cooking is required to kill botulism spores, and no one pressure cooks honey.
While most consumers think raw honey is a good thing, others believe raw honey is somehow unfinished and unsafe—like raw milk or raw meat—or not quite ready to eat, like raw asparagus. I would like to see the word “raw” dropped from honey labeling, but I’m sure it’s here to stay. If beekeepers can sell more honey by calling some of it raw, how can you blame them?
Ambiguous labels are nothing new. I saw some apples at the farmer’s market labeled “gluten free.” They were nearly twice the price of the ones that didn’t mention gluten, even though they probably came from the same tree. Curious, I read the guidelines and discovered that the FDA allows you to label something gluten free even if it is naturally gluten free, like apples.
According to the FDA website, you can even label bottled spring water gluten free. So yes, you can label your honey “raw, all natural, and gluten free” and you’re not breaking any rules, even if you heated it a wee bit now and again.
Confusion over honey seems to be getting worse, and it sometimes leaves me speechless. Last weekend a women asked if I produce raw honey. I explained that I produce comb honey exclusively. She shrugged and walked away saying, “Oh, too bad. I only eat honey that’s raw.” (Hmm. I wonder if she knows something about my bees that I don’t.)
While I don’t favor government interference in these things, it would be nice if we beekeepers could better describe our product. From the questions I get, the confusion is obvious. Some want it raw, some don’t, but few can say what that means.
There is often confusion about the differences between raw honey, natural honey, pure honey, real honey and so-called ‘fake’ honey. Put simply, raw, natural, pure, unfiltered, and real honey is essentially the same thing – 100% honey. This means is the honey in the jar was made by bees, not in a factory. If you are looking to buy raw honey, you have come to the right place! Simply Honey’s range of raw Australian honey is 100% pure and natural, and you can buy bulk raw honey here.
Fake honey refers to a honey-like product that has been modified with flavours, fillers, dyes, and sugar. In fact, some fake ‘honey’ may not even contain any bee honey at all, instead being manufactured of a mix of glucose syrups, inverted sugar solutions (from refined sugar) or corn, cane or beet syrup.
Now that we have explained what fake honey is, let’s look at the differences in pure, raw and real honey. There is a rough hierarchy of different bee honey types that are available to buy, with the top of the hierarchy being 100% genuine natural honey or raw honey.
Raw honey comes directly from the beehives and goes through minimal processing. In its truest sense, raw honey is taken directly from the honeycomb, untouched by human hands and with nothing added. This type of honey can also be called raw unfiltered honey.
Most honey sold as raw honey in Australia is minimally processed bee honey that maintains all the natural goodness of honey.
According to the US National Honey Board, raw honey is defined as:
“honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat.”
The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) defines honey (not what is ‘raw’ honey, just what is honey) as:
“the natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from nectar of blossoms, which bees transform themselves within the beehive into honey.”
Raw honey contains flecks of pollen, royal jelly, propolis and small particles of wax suspended in a viscous honey liquid; and is not adulterated by the addition of other ingredients or substances, or the removal of components beneficial to people.
The minimal processing of raw honey ensures it still contains all the valuable natural properties of real bee honey, including the health benefits of this delicious, nutritious food created by nature. When a recipe calls for raw honey, this is the type they are recommending.
At Australian Beekeepers’ Honey, we only sell raw honey. Our honey is unpasteurised, offering you the highest quality pure Australian honey available.
From Manuka Honey to our raw table honeys including yellow box honey and ironbark honey (a favourite), to macadamia honey or our tea tree honey, you can be sure that AB’s Honey is real Australian honey from real Australian beekeepers!
Is raw honey the same as unprocessed honey?
Unprocessed or unpasteurised honey is essentially raw honey in its purest form, taken directly from the honeycomb, and likely to contain pollen grains, wax and propolis.
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At ABs Honey, our raw honey has minimal processing. The honey we receive directly from our beekeepers is only gently filtered to remove debris.
Now that we know what raw honey is, let’s look at fake honey.
Fake honey is the term used for honey-like products that contain non-bee products, such as glucose syrups, inverted sugar solutions (from refined sugar) or corn, cane or beet syrup.
Many of the ‘honey’ products being imported into Australia are, in fact, not honey. In , the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC), tested honey imported from Asia proving it to be C4 sugars (likely corn syrup) rather than the honey sugar classification of C3. Check out “When Honey Isn’t Honey” for the full report.
While fake honey may look like raw honey, the key difference is that it is made in a factory, rather than by nature. Fake honey also:
Fake honey will not have the natural flavour, texture and aroma of real honey. In fact, fake honey can have a sour odour or no smell at all, and usually contains refined sugars.
Most importantly, fake honey does not have the same health benefits of pure honey.
The honey you find in the supermarket ranges from raw honey through to fake honey, which, as we noted, may not contain any honey at all!
The key difference between most of the commercially produced honey sold in the supermarkets and unprocessed raw honey is that commercially produced honey has been heated to very high temperatures and filtered to a very low micron level. This is done to slow or stop the crystallisation process and to remove any “specks” from the honey – essentially to increase its shelf life and aesthetics.
Unfortunately, these treatments also have a negative impact on the honey.
Filtered honey is honey that has had a process of fine filtration to remove all the particles that are found suspended in raw honey. These include pollen grains, wax and propolis. More often than not, heat is also used in the process of filtration to make the honey more liquid and speed up the process.
Pasteurising is the heating of honey to a high temperature. This process destroys the natural properties of the honey and eliminates many of the phytonutrients of raw honey. Heating honey in this manner not only kills rich nutrients in the raw honey, but pasteurisation also reduces the flavour and original heavenly scent of genuine honey.
Pasteurisation and filtration are used to make the honey look cleaner and more attractive on the shelf. This process also reduces the honey viscosity due to the honey being warmer, making it easier to handle and package.
In many ways, pasteurised honey no longer has the elements that make it raw honey, making commercially produced honey a refined facsimile of real honey.
Raw honey is produced by beekeepers such as AB’s Honey in Brisbane.
When you buy honey from AB’s Honey and other beekeepers you can be sure the honey has been extracted from local Australian hives and minimally processed. Raw or real honey retains the natural ingredients of honey (pollen, wax, propolis and royal jelly) and thus provides nature’s true benefits of 100% real nutritious honey.
In case you are wondering what is meant by minimal processing, it is the gentle low-temperature warming of the honey – just enough to flow sufficiently enough for bottling without removing any of its goodness.
In this process, a light straining may also be used to remove larger particles that may have been collected at the time of extracting the honey. Particles include leaves, bits of wax, and other non-honey debris.
Minimal processing does not change the natural composition of the honey. It maintains all the natural health benefits and nutritional value. It also maintains the delicious taste, and the wonderful aroma and texture that only comes with 100% natural, pure raw honey.
Compared to commercially produced honey, Australian raw honey may have a slightly cloudy appearance due to the fine textured crystals, particles of honeycomb and flecks of pollen. Depending on the variety of honey (the species of tree or flower the nectar was predominantly sourced from), raw honey may begin to crystallise during storage in the pantry. Some will begin to crystallise within weeks, such as Yapunya or Canola Honey. Others may take months (Macadamia or Tea Tree Honey), whilst others will take years (Yellow Box and many Eucalypt Honeys). The raw honey may start to cloud and crystallise, gaining a more granular texture which many people prefer, but that won’t change the flavour or nutritional value.
Here are four simple ways to test if your honey is fake honey or raw honey.
People often ask “what is raw honey?”. They may also ask “what is real honey?”, “what is natural honey?” or “what is pure honey?”. Hopefully this post has helped you learn how to tell the difference between these and fake honey.
Now that you know the value of real honey, if you are looking to buy raw honey online, we encourage you to only buy natural honey products produced and supplied by beekeepers across Australia.
The products available for sale Simply Honey online honey store are sourced from AB’s Honey, renowned beekeepers and packers of exclusively Australian, exceptional quality raw, real and natural Australian honey. If you use honey in your business, commercial kitchen, or enterprise, you can buy bulk quantities of the best Australian honey here.
AB’s Honey Manuka Honey which is the strongest raw Manuka honey for sale that we have found on the market. With a methylglyoxal content of MGO 900+, it is a premium quality Australian Manuka Honey offering a range of health benefits.
Our range of table honey includes Ironbark Honey, Tea Tree Honey and Yellow Box Honey as well as some delicious gourmet honey blends such as Honey and Cinnamon and Vanilla Honey.
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