Honey is complex and is available in several forms and so can be classified in several ways. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grading system only specified a limited subset of parameters for extracted related to gross qualities.
Liquid honey may be filtered or strained. Filtering removes more particulate matter and so clarity is a feature.
Color may range from water white to dark amber and is designated by comparison to color standards or by optical density.
Parameters that are scored:
(1) absence of defects: from 0 to 40
(2) flavor and aroma: from 0 to 50
(3) clarity (for filtered honey): from 0 to 10
Grades of honey:
(1) Grade A: 90 to 100 points and moisture content <= 18.6%
(2) Grade B: 80 to 89 points and moisture content <= 18.6%
(3) Grade C: 70 to 79 points and moisture content <= 20%
(4) substandard (SStd): none of the above
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