UMF® Honey
Unique Manuka Factor UMF®
is arguably the most trusted, easily understood and reliable standard for ensuring you are buying the best Manuka Honey.
For thousands of years honey has been known for its special properties. Certain honeys from specific plants have a greater range of attributes than others, and the honey that comes from some varieties of the New Zealand Manuka bush (Leptospermum scoparium) is one of these.
There are a number of assays and techniques including newly emerging work on determining what Manuka is that will be available to the consumer to verify the origin and provenance of this distinctive product. The UMF® rating is a measure of the attributes and values that make up Manuka honey, and assures purity & quality.
The UMF grading system appraises natural markers found in Manuka honey, and assures purity & quality. This is compliant with the recent interim labelling guidelines published by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
The UMF grading system has two components which are expressed on any UMF licenced honey product:
- The label claim that it is Manuka
- The number – this represents three chemical markers that indicate the content of this honey to ensure purity and quality. This includes the key chemical markers DHA, MGO, and Leptosperin.
To receive a UMF® grading, a honey must have the presence of DHA (dihydroxyacetone), Leptosperin, and Methylglyoxal (MG). The UMF® rating is a measure of the attributes and values that make up Manuka honey, and assures purity & quality.
To help you understand the relationship between MG and UMF, refer the following conversion table:
Methylglyoxal Level | UMF® Grade |
≥83 mg/kg | 5+ |
≥263 mg/kg | 10+ |
≥514 mg/kg | 15+ |
≥573 mg/kg | 16+ |
≥696 mg/kg | 18+ |
≥829 mg/kg | 20+ |
≥1200 mg/kg | 25+ |
To find out more about the UMF® Honey Association go to www.umf.org.nz
The UMF Honey trademark is:
- A Quality Trademark
- Internationally Recognizable
- Internationally Verifiable
- The only quality standard behind the research on Manuka Honey Leptospermum scoparium
THE LABEL
The label claim that it is genuine Mānuka Honey.
THE NUMBER
This represents the unique signature compounds characteristic of this honey which ensure purity and quality. These include: the key markers of Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal.
For more information about the grading system go to https://www.umf.org.nz/grading-system-explained/