Medihoney is made from manuka honey, but they are not the same product. Medihoney is a medical-grade wound care line that uses manuka honey as its active ingredient, then sterilizes and formats it for clinical use. The jar of manuka honey in your kitchen comes from the same plant source but hasn’t undergone the processing needed to make it safe or suitable for treating wounds.
What They Share: The Same Plant Source
Both Medihoney and food-grade manuka honey come from the nectar of Leptospermum scoparium, a shrub native to New Zealand and parts of Australia. This particular plant produces honey with stronger antibacterial properties than other floral sources, which is why it became the basis for a medical product line. So at the botanical level, the raw ingredient is identical.
The differences start after the honey is harvested.
Sterilization Is the Critical Difference
Raw honey, including manuka honey sold for eating, can contain bacterial spores. Research has found that spores of the bacterium responsible for botulism are present in more than 26% of raw honey samples. That’s harmless when you eat it (your digestive system handles it), but introducing those spores into an open wound is a real infection risk.
Medical-grade manuka honey is sterilized using gamma irradiation at dosages between 25 and 50 kGy. This eliminates bacterial spores without destroying the honey’s antibacterial compounds. No cases of botulism have been reported from properly sterilized medical honey. Food-grade manuka honey, no matter how premium the label, does not go through this process.
Medihoney Comes in Clinical Formats
Medihoney isn’t just sterilized honey in a jar. It’s manufactured into several wound care products designed for different situations:
- Wound gel: Contains natural waxes and oils for easy application to wound beds
- Gel sheet: A flexible dressing combining manuka honey with sodium alginate
- Apinate dressing: A calcium alginate dressing impregnated with manuka honey, suited for wounds that produce moderate fluid
- Tulle dressing: A non-adherent contact layer with manuka honey that won’t stick to the wound surface
- Barrier cream: Designed to protect skin around wounds
These formats let clinicians match the product to the wound type, something a squeeze bottle of table honey simply can’t do.
Medihoney Has FDA Clearance
Medihoney received FDA clearance in April 2008 as a medical device for wound management. That classification means it went through a formal review process to demonstrate it is safe and effective for its intended use. Food-grade manuka honey, even high-quality brands with UMF or MGO ratings on the label, has no such clearance for wound treatment.
For over-the-counter use, Medihoney products are indicated for minor abrasions, lacerations, cuts, and minor burns. Under the supervision of a healthcare professional, the cleared indications expand to include diabetic foot ulcers, venous and arterial leg ulcers, pressure ulcers (both partial and full thickness), first and second degree burns, donor sites, and surgical wounds.
Where the Evidence Is Strongest
Clinical evidence for honey-based wound care varies by wound type. The strongest support exists for partial-thickness burns, where high-quality evidence suggests they heal more quickly with honey than with conventional dressings. There is also moderate-quality evidence supporting honey over antiseptic rinse and gauze for infected surgical wounds.
For chronic wounds like venous leg ulcers, the picture is more mixed. Some clinical guidelines recommend considering medical-grade honey for pressure injuries, while others, including the German Society for Wound Healing, recommend against honey for chronic wounds generally. Burns and acute wounds have the most consistent backing in the research.
Why You Shouldn’t Substitute One for the Other
The appeal of using food-grade manuka honey on a wound is understandable. It’s the same plant, it’s widely available, and premium manuka honey isn’t cheap, which makes it feel like a legitimate medical product. But the differences matter in practice. Without gamma irradiation, raw manuka honey carries a real risk of introducing bacterial spores into broken skin. Without controlled manufacturing, you can’t be sure of consistent antibacterial potency from jar to jar. And without the dressing formats, application to a wound is impractical and messy.
If you’re treating a minor cut at home, a properly formulated over-the-counter Medihoney product is the version designed for that job. If you’re eating toast, the manuka honey in your pantry is the right choice. They start as the same honey, but they end up as very different products built for very different purposes.