Honey
Checked by us One serving: 20 g · 61 kcal
Little of the nutrients we score, per serving.
Nothing to watch for most people.
Worth knowing for some people: infant botulism.
Good for
How we counted this
What one serving (20 g) gives you.
Your body needs enough of each of these. Past enough, more doesn’t help. Amounts are what the food databases list, not what your body absorbs, unless a row says it was measured.
The words: “A lot” means one serving gives 20% or more of Health Canada’s daily amount, “Some” 10% to 19%, “A little” 2% to 9%, “Almost none” under 2%. Strongest word first; within a word, protein and fibre lead, then the biggest share. ?
A milligram (mg) is a thousandth of a gram, and a microgram (µg) a thousandth of a milligram: 1,000 µg make 1 mg.
No nutrient we score reaches even a little in one serving.
22 more nutrients at a little or less
- Almost none
Riboflavin (B2)
Your cells use it to make energy and handle fats. It also helps turn tryptophan into niacin and activate vitamin B6.
Learn more
0.01 mg in one serving: 1% of the 1.3 mg a day men need, 1% of the 1.1 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, riboflavin fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Iron
Carries oxygen in your blood.
Learn more
0.08 mg in one serving: 1% of the 8 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 18 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, iron fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Zinc
Your immune system and healing wounds depend on it.
Learn more
0.04 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 11 mg a day men need, 1% of the 8 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, zinc fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin B6
Helps you use protein, and your brain needs it to make its chemical messengers.
Learn more
0 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 1.3 mg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin B6 fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Potassium
Your nerves, muscles and kidneys need it to work.
Learn more
10.4 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 3,400 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 2,600 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, potassium fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Selenium
Your thyroid uses it to make its hormones.
Learn more
0.16 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 55 µg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, selenium fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Niacin (B3, niacin equivalents)
More than 400 of your enzymes need it to work.
Learn more
0.04 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 16 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 14 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, niacin fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Calcium
Builds your bones and teeth.
Learn more
1.2 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 1,000 mg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, calcium fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin C
Your body makes collagen with it, which wounds need to heal. It also helps you absorb iron from plants.
Learn more
0.1 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 90 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 75 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin C fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Protein
Your muscles, and every other tissue, are built and repaired from it.
Learn more
0.06 g in one serving: under 1% of the 56 g a day men need, under 1% of the 46 g women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. Institute of Medicine 2005, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids
- Almost none
Fibre
Keeps your gut moving.
Learn more
0.04 g in one serving: under 1% of the 38 g a day men need, under 1% of the 25 g women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. Institute of Medicine 2005, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids
- Almost none
Folate
Your body needs it to make DNA and to divide new cells.
Learn more
0.4 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 400 µg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, folate fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Magnesium
Your muscles and nerves need it to work.
Learn more
0.4 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 400 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 310 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, magnesium fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Choline
Your cells need it for their membranes, and to make acetylcholine, a messenger for memory, mood and muscle control.
Learn more
0.44 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 550 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 425 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, choline fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Omega-3: ALA
The one omega-3 your body can’t make: it must come from food. Your cells build it into their membranes and burn it for energy.
Learn more
0 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 1,600 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 1,100 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, omega-3 fatty acids fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Omega-3: EPA + DHA
Long-chain omega-3s, built into your cell membranes. DHA is concentrated in your brain and retinas.
Learn more
0 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 250 mg a day.
Health Canada sets no daily amount for these fats, so the daily figure here is the European Food Safety Authority’s.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, omega-3 fatty acids fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Thiamin (B1)
Your cells use it to get energy from food, and so to grow and work.
Learn more
0 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 1.2 mg a day men need, under 1% of the 1.1 mg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, thiamin fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin A
Your eyes need it to see in dim light.
Learn more
Getting enough matters; more than enough doesn’t sharpen your sight.
0 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 900 µg a day men need, under 1% of the 700 µg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin A fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin B12
Your body needs it to make red blood cells and keep nerves working.
Learn more
0 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 2.4 µg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin B12 fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin D
Your body needs it to absorb calcium and keep your bones hard.
Learn more
Your skin also makes it in sunlight, so food is only one of its sources.
0 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 15 µg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin D fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin E
Shields the fats in your cells from damage; your immune system uses it too.
Learn more
0 mg in one serving: under 1% of the 15 mg a day.
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin E fact sheet for health professionals
- Almost none
Vitamin K1
Your blood needs it to clot.
Learn more
0 µg in one serving: under 1% of the 120 µg a day men need, under 1% of the 90 µg women need. The word follows the smaller share, which is the share of the higher amount. ?
Source: How much of it gets in hasn’t been measured for this food yet. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin K fact sheet for health professionals
Watch out
How we counted this
Checked for nickel, aluminum, cadmium, glyphosate residues, pyrrolizidine alkaloids and lead: fine at normal amounts.
Nickel
Nothing to watchYou’d need more than 100 servings in a day of this food alone to use up what the highest average adult intake we found leaves under the limit.
Learn more
One serving carries 1.25 µg
How we got this
The highest average adult intake we found already takes up about 26% of the limit. One serving a day fits in the room left.
Counted from zero, with no allowance for what adults already take in from other food, 15,000 g a day would reach the limit.
Why this rating: Eating it daily comes to 20 g a day, which stays within the 11,000 g of room left before the limit.
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: under the limit
No cap: EFSA's 2020 tolerable daily intake (TDI) for nickel is 13 µg/kg body weight/day, 910 µg a day for 70 kg. Eaten alone, about 14,600 g of honey a day would reach it (a lower-bound mean, so an upper bound on grams). A serving carries 1.25 µg, 0.14% of the daily limit. Background intake is not subtracted.
Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A
Aluminum
Nothing to watchYou’d need more than 100 servings a day, every day, of this food alone to reach the limit.
Learn more
One serving carries 10 µg
How we got this
140,000 g a week reaches the limit
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: under the limit
No cap: EFSA's tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for aluminium is 1 mg/kg body weight/week, 70,000 µg a week for 70 kg. Eaten alone, about 139,900 g of honey a week would reach it. A serving carries 10.0 µg, 0.01% of the weekly limit. Background intake is not subtracted.
Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A
Cadmium
Nothing to watchYou’d need more than 100 servings a day, every day, of this food alone to use up what an average adult’s intake leaves under the limit.
Learn more
One serving carries 0.01 µg
How we got this
A serving a day adds 0% to what an average adult already takes in: a share of that intake, not of the limit. With that serving every day, an average adult would be at about 71% of the limit.
An average adult already takes in about 71% of the limit. One serving a day fits in the room left.
Counted from zero, with no allowance for what adults already take in from other food, 600,000 g a week would reach the limit.
Why this rating: Eating it daily comes to 140 g a week, which stays within the 180,000 g of room left before the limit.
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: under the limit
A daily serving adds 0.033% to an average adult's cadmium intake (EFSA 2012 adult median, 1.77 µg/kg body weight/week; Canadian adults in 2007: 1.2-1.75), far from doubling it, so no cap.
Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A
Glyphosate residues
Nothing to watchYou’d need more than 100 servings in a day of this food alone to reach the limit.
Learn more
One serving carries 0.41 µg
How we got this
1,700,000 g a day reaches the limit
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: under the limit
No cap: EFSA's 2023 acceptable daily intake (ADI) for glyphosate is 0.5 mg/kg body weight/day, 35,000 µg a day for 70 kg. At 0.0205 µg/g in Canadian honey (CFIA 2022–23: 121 tests, 73 positive), about 1,706,000 g a day eaten alone would reach it, an upper bound on grams; at the worst single sample (0.644 µg/g, from a second program), about 54,000 g. A serving carries 0.41 µg, 0.0012% of the daily limit. Background intake is not subtracted.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Nothing to watchRated without the share a serving adds to an average adult’s intake: the dataset stores no figure to print for this measurement.
Learn more
One serving carries 0.29 µg
How we got this
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: rated by margin of exposure
No cap: no safe level is set for pyrrolizidine alkaloids; EFSA's 2017 reference point is a benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL10) of 237 µg/kg body weight/day for the sum of 1,2-unsaturated alkaloids, and a margin of exposure of 10,000 or more is low concern. European retail honey carries 14.5 (lower bound) to 27.5 (upper bound) µg/kg, so a 20 g serving carries 0.29 to 0.55 µg, a margin of about 58,000 to 30,000 for one serving a day. EFSA's adult honey-consumer margins run from over 1,000,000 to 32,000 at mean consumption and 593,000 to 13,500 at the 95th percentile. For the young population they run 790,000 to 8,800 (mean) and 339,000 to 7,600 (95th percentile), so the lower end falls below the 10,000 line. Honey from a single local source gave 50 to 100% higher exposure. These are European data, not Canadian.
Lead
Nothing to watchYou’d need more than 100 servings a day, every day, of this food alone to double the lead an average adult already gets. No dose is known to be safe, so doubling is where we flag.
Learn more
A serving a day adds 0.4% to what an average adult already takes in. There is no limit to take a share of.
One serving carries 0.13 µg
How we got this
The dataset’s rating: Nothing to watch: doesn’t double average intake
No cap: no safe level is set for lead; EFSA's 2010 reference point is a benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL01) of 0.5 µg/kg body weight/day. Judged by what a serving adds to the average adult's intake: a daily serving carries 0.131 µg, 0.37% of 35 µg a day, far from doubling it.
Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites) · grade A
For some people
Health Canada: do not give any type of honey (pasteurized or not) to a baby under one year. Honey is the only food linked to infant botulism in Canada; 3 of the 42 reported Canadian cases were linked to honey. This is a flag for infants, not a dose.
Worth knowing
No limit applies, so none is rated.
Sugar
16 g of sugar in a 20 g serving, natural and added together.
Learn more
Shown, not rated. The food tables we read give total sugar, and few give added sugar, so the site can’t yet tell sugar added in making a food from the sugar in fruit or milk.
Also checked (nothing to act on) · 2
Noted for context, or not measured in this food yet.
Context only: total arsenic has no reference value; the inorganic share was not measured. About 1 µg/kg, so a serving carries 0.02 µg of total arsenic.
Shown as context, not rated: pesticide residues have no health-based reference value here. Beyond glyphosate (its own row), the commonest positives in CFIA's Canadian honey tests were 2,4-dimethylaniline, an amitraz metabolite (170 of 1,083 domestic tests, mean of positives 0.007–0.010 ppm), boscalid, cyanuric acid and ethylene diamine. Amitraz and fumagillin are bee treatments, not crop sprays.
Better options
How we counted this
“Better” here always means better at something the row names: more of one nutrient, more nutrients per serving, or the goal you pick. It never means better in every way.
Every amount below is for the same weight, 20 g, the size of one serving of this food, so a swap compares like with like. A serving of another food can be bigger or smaller.
Maple syrup would lead this list, but it’s left out (portions too different to compare by weight).
Your goal
Your goal changes only this list, not what the food gives you or what to watch.
Losing weight: fewer calories, and more nutrients, protein and fibre for each calorie.
Maple syrup would lead this list, but it’s left out (portions too different to compare by weight).
Building muscle: more protein and more calories, per 100 g.
Milk chocolate7.7 g protein · 535 kcal per 100 g
Dark chocolate5.1 g protein · 550 kcal per 100 g
2 foods out of the 5 other sweets we’ve checked and could compare give clearly more protein, and more calories, per 100 g.
Why some foods aren’t suggested
Left out: Maple syrup (portions too different to compare by weight).
Bring a tracker export or describe your usual week. The same rules check all of it.
The numbers
Open every value
Name in the database: Honey, strained or extracted (liquid, retail)
How the serving was set: 20 g (Health Canada TRA item U.8, honey, molasses and bread spreads: 20 g; about 1 tbsp, FDC tbsp = 21 g, CNF 4294 15 mL = 21.5 g)
Listed nutrients, per 100 g
For each nutrient, the value this page uses is marked “used”. A row marked “second database” is another database’s figure for a matching food, kept so you can see how far databases disagree (they can differ in the samples analysed, lab methods and rounding). Its own cells are worked out from it, but none of the page’s words or scores are.
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 calories | How | Source | Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omega-3: ALA | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Calcium | 6 mg | 1.2 mg | 1.97 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| 6 mg | 1.2 mg | 1.97 mg | copy of USDA · not used | Canadian Nutrient File 2026 #4294 | C | |
| Carbohydrate | 82.4 g | 16.48 g | 27.11 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Choline | 2.2 mg | 0.44 mg | 0.72 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Energy | 304 kcal | 60.8 kcal | – | FDC Energy (kcal) used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) | – |
| Omega-3: EPA + DHA | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fatty acids, total saturated | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fibre | 0.2 g | 0.04 g | 0.07 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Folate | 2 µg | 0.4 µg | 0.66 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Iron | 0.42 mg | 0.08 mg | 0.14 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Magnesium | 2 mg | 0.4 mg | 0.66 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Niacin (B3, niacin equivalents) | 0.188 mg | 0.04 mg | 0.06 mg | listed used | Canadian Nutrient File 2026 #4294 | C |
| Phosphorus | 4 mg | 0.8 mg | 1.32 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Potassium | 52 mg | 10.4 mg | 17.11 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Protein | 0.3 g | 0.06 g | 0.1 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.038 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.01 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Selenium | 0.8 µg | 0.16 µg | 0.26 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Sodium | 4 mg | 0.8 mg | 1.32 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Sugars | 82.12 g | 16.42 g | 27.01 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Thiamin (B1) | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin A | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin B12 | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.024 mg | 0 mg | 0.01 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin C | 0.5 mg | 0.1 mg | 0.16 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin D | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin E | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin K1 | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Water | 17.1 g | 3.42 g | 5.63 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Zinc | 0.22 mg | 0.04 mg | 0.07 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per serving | Per 100 calories | How | Source | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beta-carotene | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Copper | 0.036 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.01 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Ash | 0.2 g | 0.04 g | 0.07 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Sucrose | 0.89 g | 0.18 g | 0.29 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Glucose | 35.75 g | 7.15 g | 11.76 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fructose | 40.94 g | 8.19 g | 13.47 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Maltose | 1.44 g | 0.29 g | 0.47 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Alcohol, ethyl | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Caffeine | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Theobromine | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Energy | 1,272 kj | 254.4 kj | 418.42 kj | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Galactose | 3.1 g | 0.62 g | 1.02 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fluoride, F | 7 µg | 1.4 µg | 2.3 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin A, IU | 0 iu | 0 iu | 0 iu | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Carotene, alpha | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin D (D2 + D3), International Units | 0 iu | 0 iu | 0 iu | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Cryptoxanthin, beta | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Lycopene | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Folic acid | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Folate, food | 2 µg | 0.4 µg | 0.66 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Folate, DFE | 2 µg | 0.4 µg | 0.66 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Betaine | 1.7 mg | 0.34 mg | 0.56 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Tryptophan | 0.004 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Threonine | 0.004 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Isoleucine | 0.008 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Leucine | 0.01 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Lysine | 0.008 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Methionine | 0.001 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Cystine | 0.003 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Phenylalanine | 0.011 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Tyrosine | 0.008 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Valine | 0.009 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Arginine | 0.005 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Histidine | 0.001 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Alanine | 0.006 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Aspartic acid | 0.027 g | 0.01 g | 0.01 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Glutamic acid | 0.018 g | 0 g | 0.01 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Glycine | 0.007 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Proline | 0.09 g | 0.02 g | 0.03 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Serine | 0.006 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin E, added | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Vitamin B-12, added | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 4:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 6:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 8:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 10:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 12:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 14:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 16:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| SFA 18:0 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| MUFA 18:1 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 18:2 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 18:3 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 20:4 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 22:6 n-3 (DHA) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| MUFA 16:1 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 18:4 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| MUFA 20:1 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 20:5 n-3 (EPA) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| MUFA 22:1 | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| PUFA 22:5 n-3 (DPA) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fatty acids, total monounsaturated | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Lutein + zeaxanthin | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Manganese | 0.08 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.03 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Niacin (B3, preformed) | 0.121 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.04 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 0.068 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
| Retinol | 0 µg | 0 µg | 0 µg | listed used | US food database (USDA SR Legacy) #169640 | C |
Change the amount to rescale the first column. Nutrients a database doesn't list are missing, not zero.
Hazard rows as the dataset rates them
- Aluminum · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: EFSA's tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for aluminium is 1 mg/kg body weight/week, 70,000 µg a week for 70 kg. Eaten alone, about 139,900 g of honey a week would reach it. A serving carries 10.0 µg, 0.01% of the weekly limit. Background intake is not subtracted. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
- Arsenic, all forms · Context · Context only: total arsenic has no reference value; the inorganic share was not measured. About 1 µg/kg, so a serving carries 0.02 µg of total arsenic. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
- Cadmium · Nothing to watch: under the limit · A daily serving adds 0.033% to an average adult's cadmium intake (EFSA 2012 adult median, 1.77 µg/kg body weight/week; Canadian adults in 2007: 1.2-1.75), far from doubling it, so no cap. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
- Glyphosate residues · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: EFSA's 2023 acceptable daily intake (ADI) for glyphosate is 0.5 mg/kg body weight/day, 35,000 µg a day for 70 kg. At 0.0205 µg/g in Canadian honey (CFIA 2022–23: 121 tests, 73 positive), about 1,706,000 g a day eaten alone would reach it, an upper bound on grams; at the worst single sample (0.644 µg/g, from a second program), about 54,000 g. A serving carries 0.41 µg, 0.0012% of the daily limit. Background intake is not subtracted. · CFIA chemical residue monitoring (2016–2023) · A
- Infant botulism · Worth knowing · Health Canada: do not give any type of honey (pasteurized or not) to a baby under one year. Honey is the only food linked to infant botulism in Canada; 3 of the 42 reported Canadian cases were linked to honey. This is a flag for infants, not a dose. · Health Canada, Infant botulism · A
- Lead · Nothing to watch: doesn’t double average intake · No cap: no safe level is set for lead; EFSA's 2010 reference point is a benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL01) of 0.5 µg/kg body weight/day. Judged by what a serving adds to the average adult's intake: a daily serving carries 0.131 µg, 0.37% of 35 µg a day, far from doubling it. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
- Nickel · Nothing to watch: under the limit · No cap: EFSA's 2020 tolerable daily intake (TDI) for nickel is 13 µg/kg body weight/day, 910 µg a day for 70 kg. Eaten alone, about 14,600 g of honey a day would reach it (a lower-bound mean, so an upper bound on grams). A serving carries 1.25 µg, 0.14% of the daily limit. Background intake is not subtracted. · Health Canada Total Diet Study, trace elements · A
- Pesticide residues · Context · Shown as context, not rated: pesticide residues have no health-based reference value here. Beyond glyphosate (its own row), the commonest positives in CFIA's Canadian honey tests were 2,4-dimethylaniline, an amitraz metabolite (170 of 1,083 domestic tests, mean of positives 0.007–0.010 ppm), boscalid, cyanuric acid and ethylene diamine. Amitraz and fumagillin are bee treatments, not crop sprays. · CFIA chemical residue monitoring (2016–2023) · A
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids · Nothing to watch: rated by margin of exposure · No cap: no safe level is set for pyrrolizidine alkaloids; EFSA's 2017 reference point is a benchmark dose lower limit (BMDL10) of 237 µg/kg body weight/day for the sum of 1,2-unsaturated alkaloids, and a margin of exposure of 10,000 or more is low concern. European retail honey carries 14.5 (lower bound) to 27.5 (upper bound) µg/kg, so a 20 g serving carries 0.29 to 0.55 µg, a margin of about 58,000 to 30,000 for one serving a day. EFSA's adult honey-consumer margins run from over 1,000,000 to 32,000 at mean consumption and 593,000 to 13,500 at the 95th percentile. For the young population they run 790,000 to 8,800 (mean) and 339,000 to 7,600 (95th percentile), so the lower end falls below the 10,000 line. Honey from a single local source gave 50 to 100% higher exposure. These are European data, not Canadian. · EFSA 2017 · B
Oxalate, phytate and gut-tolerance measurements
- fodmap excess fructose: 5.19 g/100 g · fresh weight, as sold · database listing (USDA SR Legacy 169640, 'Honey'): fructose 40.94 and glucose 35.75 g/100 g · grade B · US food database (USDA SR Legacy)
- fodmap excess fructose: about 3.6 g/100 g, derived from two reported means (fructose + glucose 68.95 g/100 g, F/G ratio 1.11); sample F/G range 0.89 to 1.37 g/100 g · fresh weight (as sold) · 15 flower honeys from Gümüşhane, Türkiye, HPLC with refractive-index detection; fructose + glucose and F/G ratio reported per sample · grade B · PubMed 41350376
Sources
- CFIA, National Chemical Residue Monitoring Program, Annex B results summaries 2016-17 to 2022-23, Table B-1 domestic and B-2 imported (open.canada.ca datasets 95a14ca0, c87af563, a2ea8989, 9e5211c8, a5cb7c3c, 6567ac46, cf149850); positives-only means, no detection limits stated; pooled by us
cfia-ncrmp-annex-b-2016-2023· dataset · Government of Canada terms (Crown copyright) - Health Canada, Canadian Nutrient File 2026 (14th edition)
cnf-2026· dataset · Open Government Licence – Canada 2.0 - EFSA CONTAM Panel. Statement on the risks for human health related to the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey, tea, herbal infusions and food supplements. EFSA Journal 2017;15(7):4908 · doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4908 · PMID 32625569
efsa-2017-pa· full text read · CC BY-ND (EFSA Journal) - USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, 2018-04
fdc-sr-legacy-2018-04· dataset · CC0 1.0 (public domain) - Health Canada, Infant botulism (page modified 2023-02-16)
hc-infant-botulism· page · Government of Canada terms (Crown copyright) - Health Canada, Canadian Total Diet Study – Trace Elements (2005–2018 composites)
hc-tds-trace-elements· dataset · Open Government Licence – Canada 2.0 - Ucuncu O, Kul MK, Baltaci C, Aykoc AM (2025). Physicochemical properties of fifteen flower honey samples from five districts in Türkiye. Sci Rep · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-30865-x · PMID 41350376
pmid:41350376· full text read · CC BY
Body map 2026-10-25.1: each nutrient’s job comes from an agency fact sheet, linked beside it under Good for.
The plain words: “a lot” means one serving (100 g when the food has no serving size) gives at least 20% of the daily amount (the reference intake), “some” at least 10%, “a little” at least 2% (the cut-offs are ours, one set for every page: 20% and 10% are borrowed from the US labelling terms “high” and “good source” and applied to Health Canada’s daily amount, whereas Health Canada’s own shopper rule says 15%; provisional: they may change in a later method version). The daily amount is Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intake for adults 19–30; where men and women need different amounts we use the higher one (protein: 56 g for men, 46 g for women). The percentage printed under each nutrient is the printed amount as a share of that daily amount, rounded to the nearest whole number, and the word is read from that percentage, so the amount, the percentage and the word always agree. Calcium with a measured absorption is scaled by how well it gets in compared with milk.
The scale: “Nothing to watch” means a serving a day stays under the limit at ordinary amounts; “Go easy” means a serving a day can push past the limit for adults who already take in the most, or fewer than 2 servings reach it; “Limit it” means once a week or less. The dataset’s own rating is under “How we got this”. Provisional: the scale may change in a later method version.
Measured absorption under Good for: grade-A studies in adults that tested this preparation of this food, as a share of the listed amount (the share digested, for protein), quoted once each source has passed our evidence check; animal studies and other variants stay in the table above. Provisional: this screen may change in a later method version.