A Country-By-Country Guide (2026)

No EU law names mad honey. It falls under general EU food law, which bans unsafe food from the market.

There is no EU-wide legal maximum for grayanotoxins in honey. The European Food Safety Authority has assessed the risk, and its 2023 advice gives national regulators a reference point, but it is not a binding limit. In an October 2025 note, Spain's food safety agency (AESAN) said the European Commission will consider EU-wide measures on grayanotoxins. No EU legal limit has been set so far.

Travellers entering the EU from outside it can bring up to 2 kg of honey for personal use. The limit does not apply to honey moved between EU countries. Honey from Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland is also exempt. National authorities such as the Finnish Food Authority apply the same limit to food ordered online or sent by post.

Honey can only be imported commercially from countries on the EU's approved list (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405, Annex -I). Nepal is not on that list, so shops in the EU cannot import Nepali honey for sale. AESAN's October 2025 note says the same: "Nepal is not authorised to export honey to the EU."

New in 2026: from 14 June 2026, honey sold in the EU must name every country of origin on the front label. Blends must list each country with its percentage, largest first (Directive (EU) 2024/1438).

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

No German law names mad honey. However, Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) advises against eating rhododendron honeys, especially those from the Black Sea region. It says no safe intake level can yet be set.

The BfR also notes that the poisoning cases recorded in Germany involved honey of unclear origin, not honey sold through normal shops. German honey rules require the country of origin on the label.

The EU 2 kg allowance for travellers applies.

We found no Polish law or official guidance that names mad honey. Honey sold in Poland must meet EU and Polish food rules, enforced by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) and the Veterinary Inspection.

The EU 2 kg allowance for travellers applies.

We found no Finnish law or official guidance that names mad honey. General EU food law applies, enforced by the Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto).

The EU 2 kg allowance for travellers applies.

We found no Danish law or official guidance that names mad honey. General EU food law applies, enforced by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

The EU 2 kg allowance for travellers applies.

We found no Irish law or official guidance that names mad honey. General EU food law applies, enforced by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Ireland applied the new EU honey labelling rules, in force from 14 June 2026, through S.I. No. 591/2025.

The EU 2 kg allowance for travellers applies to honey from outside the EU. Honey arriving from Great Britain counts as coming from outside the EU.

No UK law names mad honey, and we found no UK legal limit for grayanotoxins. The Food Standards Agency lists grayanotoxins as a known honey hazard in its 2024 honey risk profile. For buying, labelling and import rules, read our full guide.

Bringing it in: travellers from outside the EU can bring up to 2 kg of honey per person into Great Britain. Honey from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland can be brought in for personal use without a set limit.

We found no Norwegian law or official guidance that names mad honey. Norway is not in the EU, but as part of the European Economic Area (EEA) it applies EU food rules, enforced by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet).

From countries outside the EU/EEA, Mattilsynet lets travellers bring up to 1 kg of food of animal origin other than meat and milk without submitting it for control. Mattilsynet lists honey among these animal products. Honey from Norway is also exempt from the EU 2 kg traveller limit.

We found no Swiss law or official guidance that names mad honey. Switzerland is not in the EU. Honey sold there must meet Swiss food law, overseen by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO).

From countries outside the EU, travellers can bring up to 2 kg of honey. From the EU, Norway and Iceland, honey for your own use has no set limit, though Swiss customs allowances still apply.

Turkey's Black Sea region is one of the two main sources of mad honey, and there it is a traditional local product. Germany's BfR and the UK Food Standards Agency both name it as a main source. Honey sold in Turkey must meet the Turkish Food Codex Honey Communiqué (No. 2020/7). We could not open the official text to check whether it says anything specific about mad honey.

Buy from a seller who gives a full label with the origin and a batch number.

We found no UAE law or official guidance that names mad honey. Food sold in the UAE must be registered with the authorities before it reaches shelves. The federal Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and local municipalities such as Dubai Municipality handle this.

Past UAE honey bans have targeted products with hidden drugs. In 2016, for example, the Ministry of Health banned three "royal honey" brands found to contain tadalafil. Those bans were not about mad honey, but they show the UAE acts quickly on honey with undeclared ingredients. Only buy honey with a full, honest label.

Declare honey on arrival and check the current personal-allowance rules with UAE customs before you travel.

We found no Saudi law or official guidance that names mad honey. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority only allows honey imports from SFDA-approved countries and establishments, each shipment with an approved health certificate.

We found no SFDA rule for honey carried by travellers. Declare it on arrival if you are unsure.

We found no Qatari law that names mad honey, and honey is not on the Ministry of Public Health's list of banned imported foodstuffs (updated November 2020). In 2018 the ministry warned against two honey products containing undeclared drugs. That warning was not about mad honey.

We found no official traveller limit for honey. Declare it on arrival if you are unsure.

We found no Israeli law or official guidance that names mad honey. Israel's Ministry of Health licenses imported food through its National Food Control Service, and lists honey and honey products as a "sensitive" food that importers need pre-approval for (USDA import regulations report on Israel).

Personal imports fall under Israel's Personal Import Order 5779-2019. We could not confirm whether it sets a limit for honey, so declare it on arrival.

You can bring mad honey into India. Any honey sold in India must meet the honey standard in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Since a November 2025 advisory, FSSAI treats honey above the HMF limit as substandard rather than unsafe.

Choose a seller whose honey is labelled to Indian standards and imported through proper channels. Commercial food imports need FSSAI clearance.

Small personal quantities fall under Indian customs baggage rules. Declare food if you are unsure.

Nepal is one of the two main sources of mad honey, and there it is a traditional local product. We found no Nepali law that names mad honey. Food sold in Nepal is regulated by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) under the Food Safety and Quality Act 2024.

Buy from a seller who can tell you where the honey was harvested and gives you a full label with a batch number.

We found no Japanese law or official guidance that names mad honey. Imported food in Japan falls under the Food Sanitation Act, run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).

The Embassy of Japan's quarantine guidance lists honey among animal products that need an inspection certificate from the exporting country. Japan's Animal Quarantine Service covers products derived from bees. Contact the Animal Quarantine Service before you travel.

We found no Singapore law or official guidance that names mad honey. Food in Singapore is regulated by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

SFA's list of food travellers may bring in does not name honey. Its allowance for other processed food is a combined 5 kg (or 5 litres), worth up to $100 per traveller, strictly for personal consumption. Larger amounts need an import licence and permit. Ask SFA before you travel.

We found no Chinese law that names mad honey or lists grayanotoxins as a controlled drug. Honey sold in China must meet the national honey standard, GB 14963-2011. It says the nectar bees collect must be safe and non-toxic, and that honey must not come from toxic nectar plants. It names Tripterygium wilfordii, Macleaya cordata and Stellera chamaejasme as examples. Rhododendron is not named, but sellers should be ready to show their honey meets this standard.

China's 2021 list of animal and plant products travellers may not carry or post in does not name honey. Declare food to customs if you are unsure.

We found no Malaysian law or official guidance that names mad honey. Honey sold in Malaysia must meet the Food Regulations 1985, run by the Ministry of Health's Food Safety and Quality Programme.

Malaysia's quarantine and inspection service (MAQIS) checks passenger luggage at the border, and shares control of animal products with the Ministry of Health (Malaysia border inspection briefing, 2025). We found no published honey allowance for travellers, so declare it on arrival.

We found no Thai law or official guidance that names mad honey. Food brought into Thailand must be classed as food under Thai law.

Thailand's Food and Drug Administration lets travellers bring up to 10 kg of honey for personal use, within a 20 kg limit for all food combined.

You can bring mad honey to Australia but you must declare it. Australia's tough rules for honey come from biosecurity, not grayanotoxins. Imported honey is a surveillance food, and 5% of commercial shipments are lab-tested for adulteration and quality. New Zealand honey is excluded from that testing.

Those tests check sugar adulteration, moisture and reducing sugars, not grayanotoxins. We found no Australian law or food standard that names mad honey or sets a grayanotoxin limit, and rhododendron is not on the Food Standards Code list of prohibited plants (Schedule 23).

You must declare honey on your Incoming Passenger Card. A biosecurity officer will inspect it on arrival, and honey that fails inspection is destroyed or sent back at your cost. Western Australia has stricter rules on bees and bee products, so check its state requirements if you are heading there.

New Zealand prohibits bringing overseas honey (with exceptions) and most bee products into the country due to strict biosecurity rules managed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

New Zealand lists bee products and honey among the items you cannot bring or post into the country. That covers mad honey too, whatever its origin.

Mad honey is covered by federal food rules and, in some cases, state rules. Our state-by-state guide covers buying, importing and carrying it in all 50 states.

Import and food rules for mad honey are set at the federal level. Read our full guide for the current position.

Bringing it in: the CFIA lets each traveller bring up to 20 kg of honey for personal use.