FSSAI licence for honey.
Processing or packing honey needs an FSSAI Registration at ₹100 a year up to ₹1.5 crore turnover, a State Licence at ₹5,000 up to ₹50 crore, and a Central Licence at ₹7,500 above that. The licence is the easy part: honey has one of the tightest product standards FSSAI publishes, and every jar has to meet it.
Honey processing and packing sits under General Manufacturing on FoSCoS, in food category 11.5 Honey. Up to ₹1.5 crore turnover: Registration, ₹100 a year. ₹1.5–50 crore: State Licence, ₹5,000. Above ₹50 crore: Central Licence, ₹7,500. Importing or exporting honey needs a Central Licence at any turnover. Every jar must meet standard 2.8.3.
Which FSSAI licence a honey business needs.
| Annual turnover | You need | Government fee (to FSSAI) | Our filing fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹1.5 crore | Registration | ₹100 a year | ₹4,500 |
| ₹1.5 crore – ₹50 crore | State Licence | ₹5,000 a year | ₹12,500 |
| Above ₹50 crore | Central Licence | ₹7,500 a year | ₹19,500 |
Per FSSAI’s kind-of-business table updated 01.04.2026. Our fee is one-time plus GST. Operating in two or more States/UTs adds a head-office Central Licence (₹7,500 a year).
What to choose on FoSCoS
- General Manufacturing (Manufacturer section) — if you extract, filter, process or pack honey; product category 11.5 Honey, as listed on FoSCoS
- Repacker — if you buy honey in bulk and fill it into smaller jars without changing it
- Relabeller — if a third-party unit processes and packs the honey sold under your brand
- Retailer (Trade/Retail) — if you only sell sealed jars that someone else packed
- Importer or Exporter — Central Licence at any turnover, if your honey crosses the border
2026 tablePer FSSAI’s table updated 01.04.2026. We confirm your kind of business before filing.
What a honey business has to get right.
Each point comes with the regulation, order or FSSAI document behind it. Where FSSAI hasn’t spelt something out, we say it’s our reading.
Honey is a standardised food, with numbers
Standard 2.8.3 defines honey and sets its limits. The headline figures include moisture at most 20.0%, sucrose at most 5.0%, total reducing sugars at least 65.0%, a fructose-to-glucose ratio of 0.95–1.50, C4 sugar at most 7.0%, a pollen count of at least 5,000 per gram and HMF at most 80 mg/kg. The rice-syrup marker 2-AFGP must be absent. Some figures differ by honey type, so read the table for yours.
FSS (Food Products Standards & Food Additives) Regulations 2011, 2.8.3 (Chapter 2.8, Version 1, 01.09.2023)Nothing may be added to honey
The standard says honey sold as such "shall not have added to it any food ingredient, including food additives, nor shall any other addition be made other than honey". It must also be free from mould, insects, bee fragments, pieces of wax, sand and other extraneous matter. Honey with ginger, lemon or flavour added is no longer honey under 2.8.3.
FSSR 2011, 2.8.3There is a limit on heating
Honey "shall not be heated or processed to such an extent that its essential composition is changed and/or its quality is impaired". The HMF limit of 80 mg/kg is how a lab sees over-heating or old stock, so control your heating times and temperatures and keep a record of them.
FSSR 2011, 2.8.3The name on the jar has to match the honey
Honeydew honey is labelled "Honeydew Honey", and a mixture is labelled as a blend. You can call a honey monofloral only if pollen from that plant species is at least 45% of the pollen content. Multifloral means no single species goes above 45%. A "litchi" or "tulsi" honey needs pollen evidence behind the name.
FSSR 2011, 2.8.3 (labelling provisions)"Pure", "natural" and "100%" are claims
"Natural", "pure" and similar words have conditions under Schedule V of the Advertising & Claims Regulations. A brand name that carries one of those words needs the reg. 4(7) disclaimer. FSSAI's advisory of 28.05.2025 asks businesses to stop using "100%", and FSSAI has cited it in its own notices. A misleading claim carries a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh.
Advertising & Claims Regulations 2018, reg. 4(7) and Schedule V; FSSAI advisory 28.05.2025; FSS Act s.53Brand owner and packer both go on the label
The label carries the name and full address of the brand owner, with the right qualifying words ("Packed & Marketed by" and so on). It also shows the brand owner's FSSAI logo and licence number, plus the packer's licence number if the packer is someone else.
Labelling & Display Regulations 2020, reg. 5(6)(a) and 5(7)(b)Test at least every six months
Licensed manufacturers must test their product at least once every six months at an FSSAI-notified or NABL-accredited lab. For honey, ask the lab for the full 2.8.3 parameter list, not just moisture and sucrose. The adulteration markers are the ones that catch problems.
Schedule 2, Annexure 3, condition 12What you’ll be asked for.
On top of the owner’s photo ID and address proof. FoSCoS asks per kind of business, so we send you the exact list for yours before you gather anything.
Full documents checklist- Layout plan of the extraction, filtering and filling area, with operation-wise area allocation (licence applicants)
- List of equipment and machinery (settling tanks, heaters, filters, filling line) with number and installed capacity
- Food Safety Management System plan, or a certificate if you have one
- Recall plan showing who your jars are distributed to, where applicable
- NOC from the manufacturer, if you relabel honey packed by another unit
- Legal Metrology packer registration, within 90 days of starting to pre-pack jars (rule 27, ₹500 one-time)
- Importers and exporters: Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) from DGFT, linked to the Central Licence
The authorities around this business.
FSSAI isn’t the only door you’ll knock on. These are the bodies that usually matter for this kind of business — each links to what it does and when you’ll meet it.
See the full regulatory map
Food Safety and Standards Authority of IndiaFoSCoSCommissioner of Food SafetyDesignated Officer and Food Safety Officers
FSSAI-notified, NABL-accredited food laboratoriesFoSTaC training partnersFSSAI-recognised auditing agenciesLegal Metrology DepartmentCPCBAdjudicating Officer and Food Safety Appellate TribunalMunicipal corporation or local bodyState Pollution Control BoardCommon mistakes with honey business licences.
Ginger honey, cinnamon honey and honey with dry fruits all break the 2.8.3 bar on additions. These products need a different name and category. If one ends up as a proprietary food, the 2026 table puts that kind of business on a Central Licence at any turnover. This is our reading, so confirm the category before you print.
"Monofloral" has a number behind it: at least 45% pollen from the named species. Printing a flower name on multifloral honey is a labelling problem you can avoid with one pollen analysis per batch source.
It's the most common honey claim and one of the most cited in FSSAI's enforcement files. Drop "100%", and check that "pure" or "natural" meets Schedule V before it goes on the jar or into the brand name.
A cheap test panel can pass a honey that fails on C4 sugar, the rice-syrup marker or foreign oligosaccharides. Your six-monthly report is only useful if it covers what the standard actually measures.
Your honey business licence in three steps.
Most of the work is ours. Where something needs you, it says so — and nothing is filed without your approval.
- 1
Book a free 10-minute check
Tell us what you do. We confirm the exact kind of business, the licence and the full cost — including the exceptions most people miss.
Free · no obligation - 2
We file it on your login
You get a checklist for your business, we check every document, and we file on your own FoSCoS account. The government fee goes from you to FSSAI.
Fixed fee, in writing - 3
We keep you licensed
Fees, returns, tests, medicals, labels and inspections — dated, tracked and handled, with a short status note each month.
Ready any day
Our promises, in writing
You get the fee before we start. If the scope changes, you hear it from us before it costs you.
We file on your own FoSCoS account with your approval. Nothing to hand back if you ever leave.
Straight to FSSAI on FoSCoS. It never passes through us.
Each requirement comes with the regulation behind it — and our readings are marked as ours.
FSSAI licence for honey business: questions
Is FSSAI license mandatory for a honey business?
Yes. Anyone who processes, packs, stores or sells honey as a business needs an FSSAI Registration or Licence, whichever their turnover calls for. Trading without one can bring up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh under section 63 of the FSS Act. The tier depends on turnover and on what you do to the honey.
What is the FSSAI registration fee for honey?
The government fee for a Registration is ₹100 a year, for turnover up to ₹1.5 crore. A State Licence is ₹5,000 a year and a Central Licence ₹7,500 a year. Licences no longer need renewing, but the annual fee still has to be paid or the licence is deemed suspended. Our own fee to file is ₹4,500 for Registration, ₹12,500 for State and ₹19,500 for Central, plus GST.
How to get FSSAI license for honey?
Log in to foscos.fssai.gov.in and choose the kind of business that matches your activity: General Manufacturing to process or pack, Repacker to fill from bulk, Relabeller if a third party packs for you. Pick food category 11.5 Honey, upload the documents your tier asks for and pay the fee. We file on your own FoSCoS login, so the licence stays in your name.
What are the FSSAI standards for honey?
Standard 2.8.3 of the Food Products Standards Regulations. It defines blossom and honeydew honey, bars any additions, limits heating, and sets a parameter table. That table covers moisture, sucrose, reducing sugars, the fructose-to-glucose ratio, C4 sugar, pollen count, HMF, the rice-syrup marker 2-AFGP and foreign oligosaccharides. The same clause controls names like "monofloral" and "honeydew honey".
Can I sell flavoured honey or honey with nuts under my honey licence?
Not as "honey". Standard 2.8.3 says nothing may be added to honey sold as such, so a flavoured or mixed product is a different food. It needs its own name and the right food category on your licence. A licence only covers the kinds of business written on it, so add the product by modification before you sell it.
Do I need to file an annual return for a honey unit?
If you hold a licence as a manufacturer, yes. Form D-1 for the previous financial year is due by 31 May, one return per licence. A late return costs ₹100 a day, and a return that is never filed triggers deemed suspension. Registration holders fall outside regulation 2.1.13 and don't file D-1.
Do I need a Central Licence to export honey?
Yes. FSSAI requires exporters, including merchant exporters, to hold a Central Licence at any turnover, tied to your IEC. Importers of honey need the same, and each consignment also needs FSSAI import clearance. The honey you export is made to the importing country's rules, which can differ from 2.8.3.
Get your honey business licensed — and keep it that way.
Book a free 10-minute check. A person — not a bot — calls you back within working hours, tells you exactly which licence you need and what it costs, before you commit to anything.
- Government fee paid by you, directly to FSSAI
- Filed under your own FoSCoS login
- Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start
Not ready to talk? Get the free 2026 checklist or find your licence yourself.