Release No. 188-14

Contact:

Hakim Fobia (202) 690-0488

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2014 -- The Agricultural Act of 2014, also known as the 2014 Farm Bill, charged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with completing a report on whether a federal standard of identity for honey would be in the interest of consumers, the honey industry, and U.S. Agriculture. Consistent with this direction, USDA is seeking input from the public to assist USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) as it develops the report.

AMS will send the report to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which establishes standards of identity for fruits and vegetables and other foods, for their consideration in creating a regulatory standard. Standards of identity determine what a food product must contain in order to be marketed under a certain name in interstate commerce. USDA will take into consideration the March 2006 standard of identity petition that citizens filed with the FDA, including any current amendments or clarifications necessary to update that petition.

The notice soliciting comments will be published in the Aug. 20, 2014, Federal Register. Comments must be submitted to www.regulations.gov by Sept 19, 2014. For a copy of the standards or more information, visit www.ams.usda.gov/scihome or contact Robin Chilton, Chief, Standardization Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Program, USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, National Training and Development Center, Riverside Business Park, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Va. 22406; telephone (540) 361-1130; or, email robin.chilton@ams.usda.gov.

Get the latest Agricultural Marketing Service news at http://www.ams.usda.gov/news or follow us on Twitter @USDA_AMS. You can also read about us on the USDA blog.

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