Manuka Honey

New Zealand Manuka Honey Buyer’s Guide

To be labelled manuka honey in New Zealand, honey must meet stringent standards and guidelines. True New Zealand manuka honey will be labelled with a UMF rating (e.g. UMF 10+) or a methylglyoxal content, often abbreviated to MG or MGO (e.g. MGO 400).

The latest specification for a UMF rating certifies the honey’s content of a DHA (dihydroxyacetone), MG/MGO (methylglyoxal), and Leptosperin, which are the key chemical markers that identify genuine manuka honey as having the desirable ‘manuka goodness.’

MG/MGO ratings measure only the methylglyoxal content.

There are no other recognised rating systems for genuine New Zealand manuka honey, although there are several ‘made-up’ ratings used by honey marketing companies to disguise lower-grade honey. Avoid honey that does not specify either UMF or methylglyoxal content as it is unlikely to be genuine manuka honey.

New Zealand Government honey labelling requirements explicitly prohibit the use of the terms “Non-Peroxide Activity”, “Total Peroxide Activity”, “Peroxide Activity”, “Total Activity” and “Active” on honey labels. These requirements have been in place since early 2015. Avoid honey that shows any of these terms on its label as it would be illegal for such a honey to be produced or sold in New Zealand.

Additional manuka honey information on this site you may find useful:

Manuka Honey MGO and UMF Ratings Compared
Manuka Honey UMF vs MGO Calculator
The Top Manuka Honeys on Amazon.com
The Top Manuka Honeys on Amazon Germany

On other websites:

New Zealand Government Ministry for Primary Industries manuka honey information
List of UMF licensees (UMF Honey Association)
UMF grading system (UMF Honey Association)

ExportX represents New Zealand manuka honey brands in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, including manuka honeys from Happy Valley, Taku Honey, Melora, Wild Cape and Manukora.