What Makes New Zealand Mānuka Honey Genuine: The MPI Definition Explained

For years, “mānuka” on a label meant whatever the producer wanted it to mean. As prices rose, so did mislabelling. New Zealand’s answer was a government definition based on chemistry and DNA rather than on claims.

Five attributes, all required

MPI’s research found that no single compound identifies mānuka honey on its own, but a combination does. The definition uses five attributes:

1. 3-phenyllactic acid, a chemical from mānuka nectar
2. 2’-methoxyacetophenone, a chemical found in the mānuka plant
3. 2-methoxybenzoic acid
4. 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid
5. DNA from mānuka pollen, which shows bees actually worked mānuka flowers

Chemistry describes what is in the jar. The pollen DNA asks a different question: which plant the bees visited. Together they close the gaps either test would leave open alone.

Monofloral or multifloral

Honey that passes all five is classed by how strongly it shows the mānuka markers. Under MPI’s 2018 science definition:

Marker	Monofloral mānuka	Multifloral mānuka
3-phenyllactic acid	400 mg/kg or more	20 to 399 mg/kg
2’-methoxyacetophenone	5 mg/kg or more	1 mg/kg or more
2-methoxybenzoic acid	1 mg/kg or more	1 mg/kg or more
4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid	1 mg/kg or more	1 mg/kg or more
Mānuka pollen DNA	Detected	Detected

MPI reviews the definition from time to time, so its own website is the place to confirm current thresholds. Honey that fails one or more attributes is not mānuka for export purposes.

Who does the testing

Testing for export is done by laboratories MPI recognises, not by the producer. Exporters are registered and issued an ID, and packing runs under a registered Risk Management Programme.

What the definition does not do

It does not grade the honey. A fully certified monofloral mānuka can still carry a low MGO number. Authenticity and grade are separate questions: MPI answers “is this mānuka?”, and an MGO test answers “how concentrated is it?” See how MGO grading works.

How this applies to our honey

Genesis Honey Co is exported from New Zealand under MPI certification, exporter ID AEX000242, and packed under an RMP-registered process. Each batch is graded MGO 700+ on its own result from Hill Laboratories, and the code on the jar traces to that batch.