Raw Honey
Raw vs Pasteurized Honey
Last updated: 2026-09-28
Short answer
Raw honey is honey that has only been strained and never heat-treated. “Raw” is a producer's claim rather than a legal category in the EU Honey Directive, so batch information and lab data are the way to verify it.
What “raw” means
The EU Honey Directive names honey by origin (blossom, honeydew) and presentation (comb, chunk, drained, pressed, filtered, etc.); “raw” is not a separate defined category.[1] In practice, “raw” means honey that has been strained but not heated.
How it differs
- Heat: Heating can lower diastase activity and raise HMF — the two markers used to check freshness and heat treatment.[2][3]
- Filtration: Fine filtration removes pollen and small crystals, and filtered honey crystallizes more slowly.[3]
- Crystallization: Raw blossom honey often crystallizes; that is normal. Why honey crystallizes.
Safety
No honey — raw or not — should be given to infants under 12 months.[4]
Raw honeys from Korkuteli
See our raw wildflower honey, Turkish thyme honey and karakovan honeycomb.
Related products
Frequently asked questions
Is raw honey the same as unfiltered honey?+
Not necessarily. Raw means not heat-treated; unfiltered means not finely filtered. Check the label and ask for batch information.
Related articles
Sources
- Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey — full text (Articles 1–12) — European Union (EUR-Lex text via LawPlayer)
- Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey — Annex II (composition criteria) — European Union
- Evaluation of factors affecting crystallization of disparate set of multi-flower honey samples — Grégrová A. et al. — Agronomy Research 13(5):1215–1226 (2015)
- Infant Botulism and Honey (ENY-128) — Sanford M.T. et al., University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS), 2013