Sanitary norms and rules regarding honey will be approved in Azerbaijan.
Medianews.az reports that, according to information obtained by Ajans.az, a relevant technical normative legal act draft has been prepared in this regard and is currently in the stage of coordination with the relevant authorities.
According to the draft, honey should mainly consist of various sugars, primarily fructose and glucose, organic acids, enzymes, and pollen, and should not contain organic or inorganic substances that are not characteristic of the natural composition of honey.
It will not be allowed to add any food ingredients other than honey, including food additives, into the composition of honey.
The color of honey can range from transparent to dark brown; the taste and smell of honey should correspond to the source of nectar and the type of plant from which it is made. Except for cooking honey, honey should not have foreign tastes or odors, signs of souring or fermentation, its acidity should not be artificially altered, and it should not be heated to a degree that results in the breakdown or deactivation of the natural enzymes in honey.
According to its consistency, honey can be liquid, solid, partially or fully crystallized. The use of chemical or biochemical processing methods to affect crystallization (preventing or stimulating crystallization) is not allowed.
The label indicating the name of the flower or plant from which it was obtained, as well as the region or geographical name, must not allow the addition of filtered honey to the honey; the comb must not contain organic or bleaching substances uncharacteristic to beeswax such as paraffin, ceresin, animal fat, oxalic acid.
Also, the sale of chestnut honey and natural comb honey in the form of strained honey will not be allowed.
In honey sold as chestnut honey and natural comb honey, the comb must not be broken and strained honey should not be added to them.