A) General Characteristics
1) It should be a well-ripened natural product.
2) It should be clear and visually transparent.
3) It should be extracted with the help of an extractor.
4) It should free from objectionable flavour due to over heating, fermentation and smoke.
5) It should have been strained clean through double thickness of cheese cloth about 150 µ at a temperature not exceeding 70º C.
6) Freedom from foreign matter: When visually inspected honey shall be free from foreign matter such as dirt, mould, scum, piece of beeswax, fragments of bees and other insects and from any other extraneous matter.
7) Colour: Colour of honey shall be uniform throughout and may vary from light to dark brown.
8) Packaging and Marketing: Honey shall be packed in hygienically clean wide mouthed glass containers, or in acid-resistant lacquered tin containers or in suitable polyethylene containers. The screwed saps of glass containers shall be non-corrosive and non-reacting material to honey and shall be provided with cork washes to avoid spilling.
Having studied about the characteristics, specifications and requirements, let us next look at the physical criteria for quality of honey.