Medical-Grade vs. regular honey: What’s the Difference?

While we often talk about the healing powers of raw honey, you may have seen a specific term popping up in health stores: Medical-Grade Honey. But is it just a fancy label, or is there a real difference?

The biggest difference is sterilization. Even the highest quality raw honey can contain natural spores & other impurities, such as pollens and bee debris. While these are completely harmless to eat, they can cause infections if applied to wounds or damaged skin. Medical-grade honey undergoes a processes including ultra-filtration and flash pasteurization to (mostly) sterilize the honey without damaging the honey’s active healing enzymes.

Secondly, medical honey is standardized. While the honey in your kitchen varies in potency depending on the flowers the bees visited that week, medical-grade honey is tested in labs to ensure it has a consistently high level of antibacterial power.

The takeaway? Always use for a certified medical-grade honey product for use on the skin.