Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2162) to provide for the protection of the integrity of honey marketed in the United States, and for other purposes.

Key Points

• This bill creates the first official national definition for honey. It stops companies from selling cheap sugar syrups or watered-down products as pure honey. It sets strict rules on sugar levels and moisture to make sure what you buy is the real thing.
• Imported honey would face much tougher checks. While honey made in the United States gets a faster approval process, imported honey must be tested in American labs to prove it is real. The government will no longer take a foreign country's word that their honey is pure.
• A new public website called the Honey Fraud Registry would be created. It would list the names of companies and brands caught selling fake honey. This helps shoppers know which brands to trust and makes it harder for dishonest businesses to hide.
• Labels on honey jars would have to be much clearer about where the honey comes from. If a jar has honey from several countries, the label must list them in order of how much is inside. The Product of USA label can only be used if most of the honey actually comes from America.
• A new National Honey Center of Excellence would be created at a university. This center will use advanced technology to create a honey fingerprint for different types of honey. This ensures that testing methods can catch even the most high-tech fakes.

Impact Analysis

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