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Storage guides · Product label guide

Does honey go bad? What labels show, and why honey is never for babies under 12 months.

Updated

Where to find honey storage times, what the ingredient list tells you about flavored and infused honey, and the CDC rule: no honey for children under 12 months.

Quick answer

For the exact pantry time of honey, use the USDA FoodKeeper entry; we do not repeat a number we could not confirm on a USDA page. What a label can show is whether a jar is only honey or honey with added ingredients, and what it cannot show is age: the CDC says not to give honey to children younger than 12 months because of infant botulism.

Storage times
See the USDA FoodKeeper
Infants
No honey under 12 months (CDC)
Honey shelf in our catalog
33 current labels
Honey only on the label
22 labels list a single ingredient

01 · A closer look

Where to find the storage time.

USDA’s FoodKeeper lists storage times for honey and thousands of other foods. We link to it instead of quoting a figure here, because the entry can change and we could only confirm USDA’s numbers for the foods named on our other storage pages. FoodKeeper figures are guidelines for quality, not hard limits.

USDA and FoodSafety.gov: FoodKeeper (storage times for pantry, refrigerator and freezer)

02 · A closer look

What changes on a label.

Plain honey lists one ingredient: honey. Blends add ingredients such as vanilla extract, royal jelly or pollen, and honey hot sauces add peppers, vinegar, water and gums. Once other ingredients are in the jar, treat the jar like those ingredients: read its label and the FoodKeeper entry for the added item. The table below counts how many honey-shelf labels are single-ingredient.

03 · A closer look

No honey under 12 months.

The CDC says not to give honey to children younger than 12 months, because it can contain the bacteria that cause infant botulism. This applies to honey added to food, water, formula or a pacifier. It is a rule about the age of the child, not about whether a jar has gone bad.

CDC: foods and drinks to avoid or limit (honey and children under 12 months)

04 · A closer look

What a date label means.

Date labels on most food are voluntary. USDA FSIS says that, except for infant formula, a date on a package is not required by federal law and is not a safety date. For meat, poultry and egg products FSIS describes “Best if Used By” as the date for best flavor or quality, not a purchase or safety date. Infant formula is the exception: the FDA requires a “Use by” date on its label.

USDA FSIS: food product dating

05 · A closer look

How our checker treats honey.

Honey is not an additive group, so a jar of only honey is not flagged. Flagged items come from other ingredients on the label, such as a preservative or a seed oil in a honey-based product. The score is a label score, not a health rating.

From the catalog · 8 labels

Honey in our catalog

A jar labeled honey can be one ingredient or a blend with extracts, spices, peppers or vinegar, and the added ingredients are what change how it is stored. Of the 4,729 products whose full ingredient list we have read in the last 90 days, 33 sit on the honey shelf and 33 of those have no additive group flagged by the checker. Open a product to see its full label and the date we read it.

Honey shelf: current labels in the CleanFoodScore catalog (counted at the last site build)
Labels
Current labels on the honey shelf33
List a single ingredient22 (66.7%)
List sugar or syrup in addition to honey2 (6.1%)
List a preservative (sorbate or benzoate)0 (0.0%)
List vinegar (honey hot sauces)2 (6.1%)
With any additive group flagged by the checker0 (0.0%)

The short answer

Our picks for does honey go bad?

Top of the shelfBurleson's Raw & Unfiltered Organic Honey, Pure Indian Foods Manuka Honey, Certified Organic, 400+ MGO – Black Label, and Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Fair Trade Honey each score 100/100. 4 products tie at 100; these 3 have the shortest labels. Use Compare by in the table to separate the rest.

Also strongTierra Farm Organic Roasted Honey Sriracha Cashews (100), Bee Harmony Honey (71), and Sue Bee Clover Honey (71).

Clear noNone. Nothing scored here lists any of the nine groups we check, so there’s no additive to rule out.

Ranked from 8 of 8 products with current labels. Every product is in the table below; a score reflects labels and claims, not nutrition, allergies or safety.

Compare the recorded labels

Find the ingredients that matter to you.

8 of 8 products

“No …” columns: None found on the label · Listed on the label · Unknown. Diet fit: Fits · Doesn’t fit · Unknown (rules; not medical advice). Claims: verified · not established. Default: most check marks first; not a health score.

Compare product claims and recorded ingredients. Click a column heading to sort.
Buy
100 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · organicFind where to buy ↗Product details →5
100 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · organicFind where to buy ↗Product details →5
100 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · organicFind where to buy ↗Product details →5
100 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · organicFind where to buy ↗Product details →5
71 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · no organic claimProduct details →4
71 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · no organic claimFind where to buy ↗Product details →4
71 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · no organic claimBuy on Amazon ↗Product details →4
71 / 1009 of 9 groups clear · no organic claimProduct details →4
How the clean score works

No setup needed, and strict: a full 100 needs every additive group clear and a verified organic claim (animal foods also need a verified grass-fed or pasture-raised claim; wild seafood and salt, which have no USDA organic standard, are scored without the organic points, and plant-based milks, cheeses and proteins without the feeding claim). Points: the nine additive groups (seed oils, artificial dyes, MSG, artificial sweeteners, carrageenan, artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils, corn syrups, banned-abroad additives) share 60 points equally — not found earns a group’s full share, “may contain” earns half, listed earns 0; a verified organic claim is worth 25; a verified grass-fed or pasture-raised claim is worth 15 and counts only for animal foods. No claim, or an expired or unverified claim, earns nothing, so products without those claims cannot reach 100. Unverified or expired ingredient labels receive no score. Equal scores are equal. Ties are ordered by brand. Unknown and stale evidence never passes “Only show matches.” Producer claims and prices do not affect this score. This is not a nutrition, allergy, or safety rating.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Buying links do not influence ingredient results. “Buy on Amazon” opens a reviewed product listing; “Find where to buy” opens the maker’s page. Confirm the package, seller, stock, and current price before checkout. Price observations expire after 30 days.

Primary sources

Sources

  1. USDA and FoodSafety.gov: FoodKeeper (storage times for pantry, refrigerator and freezer) foodsafety.gov
  2. CDC: foods and drinks to avoid or limit (honey and children under 12 months) cdc.gov
  3. CDC: botulism prevention cdc.gov
  4. USDA FSIS: food product dating fsis.usda.gov

Watch

The video about this page

Does Honey Go Bad? What Crystals and Labels Tell YouNone of the 33 current honey labels in our catalog lists a preservative (as of October 2026). Crystallized honey is a texture change, and the one firm rule from the CDC is no honey for children under 12 months.Watch on YouTube

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