Honey in Canada is graded based on its color, moisture and filtration. The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) grades honey on the end product alone and does not account for processing practices. According to the regulations set in place for filtration, the CFIA states that Canadian Grade No.1 honey needs to flow through an 80 grid mesh filter. During inspection a finished product will be taken and mixed with warm water to form a liquid, and the liquid will be poured through an 80 grid mesh screen. If there are no particles left on the mesh, the honey is graded Canada No.1. However, the only way for any honey (including raw/pure honey) to flow through this mesh screen and leave no particles behind, is to be heated and pre-filtered during processing.
Pasteli Bar’s honey collection refuses to heat at any stage of processing and therefore our honey does not and cannot meet Canada's "Grade No.1" filtration standards. We would argue, that any Canada No.1 honey on the shelf should not be claiming that they are raw or pure when they have all heated their product in order to meet the filtering standards. We believe and it is a fact, that when honey is heated it degrades from its “Raw” or “Pure” status.
At Pasteli Bar we have worked very hard to provide our consumers with an exceptional, actually pure honey and we believe that we deserve credit for it, and not considered to be a “lower” grading honey. So, until “Raw” becomes a recognized CFIA grade, Pasteli Bar’s honey collection will continue to offer one of the world’s best "Grade No.3" honey- 100% pure, unheated and unfiltered product on the shelf!
With the above statement we hope our consumers will understand that being "Grade No.3" is actually a good thing as we offer a completely unique and unadulterated product - The Pasteli Bar Team