Kanuka Honey Skin Trials: Rosacea, Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis and Cold Sores

Table of Contents

1. What Kanuka Honey Is
2. How Kanuka Honey Differs From Manuka Honey
3. The Preparation Used in the Trials
4. Rosacea: 138 Adults, a Benefit Over Plain Cream
5. Acne: 136 People, No Added Benefit
6. Atopic Eczema: 15 Adults, No Difference
7. Psoriasis: 15 Adults, No Difference
8. Cold Sores: 952 Adults, Honey and Aciclovir Tied
9. The Five Trials Side by Side
10. Laboratory Findings
11. Traditional Māori Use
12. Safety Findings
13. What Is Not Known
14. Key Research Papers
15. Connections
16. Featured Videos

What Kanuka Honey Is

Kanuka honey is made by honeybees from the nectar of kanuka (also written kānuka), Kunzea ericoides, a tree of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae). Manuka, Leptospermum scoparium, belongs to the same family. A 1991 survey of 345 New Zealand honey samples lists both under that family name (Allen 1991), and the authors of the cold sore trial describe kanuka as being "of the same family as the better studied manuka tree" (Semprini 2019).

According to a 2022 review of native New Zealand honeys, "kānuka" is the common Māori name for ten botanical species found in New Zealand, some of them confined to small areas such as Great Barrier Island and the Three Kings Islands. The same review states that kanuka is not found in south Westland or the southern districts of the South Island, and does not tolerate wet soils or sub-alpine areas (Zucchetta 2022, full text). The two trees grow in similar places, and the review notes that manuka pollen cannot be told apart from kanuka pollen under light or scanning electron microscopes, which is one reason so much research on kanuka honey is about telling it apart from manuka honey. Blends of the two are common on the market.

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How Kanuka Honey Differs From Manuka Honey

The main chemical difference is methylglyoxal (MGO), the compound behind most of manuka honey's laboratory antibacterial activity.

• Where manuka's methylglyoxal comes from. Manuka nectar contains dihydroxyacetone (DHA). Adams and colleagues found that freshly made manuka honey had low methylglyoxal and high dihydroxyacetone, and that storage at 37 °C turned one into the other. Nectar washed from manuka flowers held high levels of dihydroxyacetone and no detectable methylglyoxal (Adams 2009).
• How much manuka honey holds. In six samples of New Zealand manuka honey, Mavric and colleagues measured 38 to 761 mg/kg of methylglyoxal, up to 100 times more than conventional honeys, and linked the antibacterial activity directly to it (Mavric 2008).
• Kanuka honey. The 2022 review reports that kanuka nectar was described as containing no dihydroxyacetone, which would give a methylglyoxal-free honey, while another analysis found traces of methylglyoxal in kanuka nectar and honey. In that analysis methylglyoxal was the main marker for manuka honey and phenyllactic acid the main compound in kanuka honey (Zucchetta 2022, full text).
• Chemical fingerprints. A German laboratory analysis of pollen-pure honeys found kanuka honey was marked by 4-methoxyphenyllactic acid, methyl syringate, p-anisic acid and lumichrome, while manuka honey was marked by leptosin and several other compounds (Beitlich 2014).
• Peroxide and non-peroxide activity. In the 1991 survey, kanuka honey was one of the floral sources likely to give honey with high antibacterial activity, but when hydrogen peroxide was removed with catalase, only manuka and viper's bugloss honeys kept activity in a significant share of samples (Allen 1991). A later laboratory study found that hydrogen peroxide added to the activity of kanuka honey but was not essential for stopping bacterial growth (Lu 2013).
• Proteins from the nectar. Kanuka honey is rich in type II arabinogalactan proteins, plant proteins that come from kanuka nectar; Gannabathula and colleagues found them "abundant in kanuka honey with lesser amounts in manuka, kowhai and clover honeys" (Gannabathula 2015).

One record points the other way on methylglyoxal: a 2012 research letter is titled "New Zealand kanuka honey has high levels of methylglyoxal and antimicrobial activity" (Holt 2012). PubMed carries no abstract for it, and its figures were not checked for this page. The 2022 review attributes some of the variation between kanuka samples to other floral sources in the honey, such as clover or manuka, so a "kanuka" honey that contains manuka nectar can be expected to carry some methylglyoxal.

For the clinical trials below, the difference matters in one way: none of them tested manuka honey, and their results apply to the kanuka preparation they used. The manuka grading systems, methylglyoxal levels and wound-care evidence are covered on the Antimicrobial Spectrum and Wound Healing pages.

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The Preparation Used in the Trials

The rosacea, acne and cold sore trials used a cream described in their abstracts as 90% medical-grade kanuka honey and 10% glycerine. The eczema and psoriasis trials describe the product as "medical-grade Kanuka honey" without giving the glycerine figure. Glycerine is a thick, water-holding liquid used in many skin creams; the honey content is what the trials set out to test.

All five trials were run by researchers at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand with partner clinics, and all five were funded by the company that makes the kanuka honey product, according to the funding and competing-interest statements in the papers. The papers for the acne, eczema and psoriasis trials state that the sponsor had no role in the study design, analysis or the decision to publish. Three of the five trials funded this way reported no benefit.

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Rosacea: 138 Adults, a Benefit Over Plain Cream

Rosacea is a long-lasting redness of the central face, often with bumps and pustules. The full condition is described on the Rosacea page.

• Design. Randomised controlled trial with a blinded assessor for the main outcome, at 5 outpatient primary care sites in New Zealand (Braithwaite 2015).
• People. 138 adults aged 16 and over with rosacea and an investigator severity score of at least 2 on a 7-point scale; 69 assigned to each group.
• Treatment. The kanuka honey and glycerine cream, or a plain cetomacrogol control cream (a paraffin-based moisturising cream), applied twice a day for 8 weeks.
• Main result. 24 of 68 people (34.3%) in the honey group and 12 of 69 (17.4%) in the control group improved by at least 2 points on a 7-point severity scale rated by the investigator. Relative risk 2.03 (95% confidence interval 1.11 to 3.72), p=0.020.
• Other results. The severity score fell by 1 point more with honey than with control at week 2 and at week 8. Participants' own rating of change, on a 100 mm line, was 9.1 mm better with honey at week 2 and 12.3 mm better at week 8.
• Withdrawals. 7 people left the honey group and 15 the control group; 3 and 8 respectively left because their rosacea worsened (full text). People who withdrew were counted as not improved.
• Side effects. The full text lists burning, itching, peeling, stinging, dry skin and pain among rosacea-related adverse events, and reports that the number of people with these was similar in both groups; the authors could not tell whether they came from the creams or from the rosacea itself.

The authors concluded that the honey cream "is an effective treatment for rosacea." This is the one positive trial of the five. It compared honey with a plain moisturising cream, not with the prescription creams used for rosacea, and it has not been repeated by an independent group.

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Acne: 136 People, No Added Benefit

The Acne page covers the condition itself.

• Design. Randomised controlled trial with a single-blind assessment of the main outcome, in outpatient primary care in 3 New Zealand localities (Semprini 2016).
• People. 136 people aged 16 to 40 with facial acne and an investigator acne score of at least 2.
• Treatment. Everyone washed twice a day for 12 weeks with an antibacterial soap containing triclocarban. The honey group then applied the kanuka honey and glycerine cream straight after washing, twice a day. The trial was built to test whether the honey added anything on top of the soap.
• Main result. 4 of 53 (7.6%) in the honey group and 1 of 53 (1.9%) in the soap-only group improved by at least 2 points on the investigator's scale at 12 weeks. Odds ratio 4.2 (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 39.3), p=0.17, which is not a statistically significant difference.
• Withdrawals. 15 people left the honey group and 14 the control group. In the full text, 2 people left the honey group because their acne worsened and none left the control group for that reason; 5 honey users left because of the inconvenience of the treatment.
• Side effects. 47 adverse events were judged related to the study treatments, 23 in the honey group and 24 in the control group (full text).

The authors "did not find evidence" that adding the honey product to antibacterial soap worked better than the soap alone. They list as limitations that participants could not be blinded because the product "tasted and smelt of honey," that diary completion was poor, and that very few people in either group improved by the trial's measure. They suggest that kanuka honey's anti-inflammatory and antibacterial actions "may not exert an influence relevant to the specific pathogenic pathways in acne."

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Atopic Eczema: 15 Adults, No Difference

The eczema and psoriasis trials were short pilot studies. PubMed shows no abstract for either, so the figures here are taken from the open full texts in PubMed Central. The Eczema page covers the condition.

• Design. Randomised, single-blind, within-person comparison at two primary care practices in Tauranga (Fingleton, eczema, 2014). Each person treated a matching patch of eczema on each side of the body; a coin toss decided which side got the honey.
• People. 15 adults with doctor-diagnosed eczema on the limbs, mean age 37. People using any corticosteroid, needing antibiotics or allergic to honey were excluded.
• Treatment. Medical-grade kanuka honey on one side and aqueous cream on the other, every night for 2 weeks, each covered overnight with a dry non-stick dressing. Mean contact time was over 8 hours a night.
• Main result. A second investigator who did not know which side was which scored the lesions. The change in lesion score differed by −0.1 points between the sides (95% confidence interval −1.5 to 1.4), p=0.92. The Three Item Severity score differed by −0.1 (−0.9 to 0.6), and itch, rated by participants on a 0 to 100 scale, by −7.3 (−27.7 to 13.2). None of these differences was statistically significant.
• Acceptability and side effects. Participants gave the honey a mean acceptability score of 60.6 out of 100. One person reported more itch with the honey.

The authors found "no evidence of efficacy above that of the aqueous cream control." They describe aqueous cream as a negative control in eczema (a comparison not expected to help) and note that 15 people are too few to rule out a small but real effect, and that blinding was incomplete because honey looks and feels like honey. The Skin Conditions and Acne page describes a separate, non-randomised manuka study in eczema that reported improvement.

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Psoriasis: 15 Adults, No Difference

The Psoriasis page covers the condition.

• Design. Same within-person, coin-toss design as the eczema trial, at two primary care practices in Tauranga (Fingleton, psoriasis, 2014).
• People. 15 adults with doctor-diagnosed psoriasis on the limbs, mean age 52. People using a corticosteroid or allergic to honey were excluded.
• Treatment. Medical-grade kanuka honey on one plaque and aqueous cream on the matching plaque, nightly for 2 weeks under a dry dressing. Adherence was 95% of applications, with mean contact time over 9 hours.
• Main result. The intensity part of the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, scored by a blinded investigator, fell on both sides: by 1.3 points with honey and 0.8 with cream, a difference of 0.5 points that was not significant (p=0.25). Participants' own severity ratings also fell on both sides, with a difference of 5.0 points on a 100-point scale (95% confidence interval −14.3 to 4.4), p=0.27.
• Acceptability and side effects. Mean acceptability was 71.1 out of 100. No treatment-related adverse events were reported.

The authors wrote that kanuka honey "may have similar efficacy to aqueous cream" in psoriasis, "but this requires confirmation in a suitably powered study." Unlike in eczema, they describe aqueous cream as a recognised psoriasis treatment that may act as an active comparison, though weaker than steroid creams. Either way, the trial found no difference between honey and cream.

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Cold Sores: 952 Adults, Honey and Aciclovir Tied

Cold sores (herpes simplex labialis) are recurring blisters on the lips caused by the herpes simplex virus. The trial protocol states that about 90% of people worldwide carry the virus, that 30% of those get recurrent cold sores, and that aciclovir cream shortens healing by about half a day compared with no specific treatment (Semprini 2017).

• Design. Open-label randomised controlled trial designed to show superiority, run through 76 community pharmacies across New Zealand from September 2015 to December 2017 (Semprini 2019).
• People. 952 people aged 16 and over, enrolled within 72 hours of a new cold sore. The full text lists pregnancy, breastfeeding and allergy to honey, bees, glycerine or aciclovir among the exclusions.
• Treatment. 5% aciclovir cream or the 90% kanuka honey and 10% glycerine cream, both applied five times a day, until the skin returned to normal or for up to 14 days according to the protocol. Participants reported healing by phone diary each day.
• Main result. Median time to normal skin was 8 days (95% confidence interval 8 to 9) with aciclovir and 9 days (8 to 9) with honey. Hazard ratio 1.06 (0.92 to 1.22), p=0.56.
• Other results. No statistically significant differences between the two creams on any secondary outcome, including maximal pain, time to pain resolution and acceptability.
• Side effects. No related serious adverse events. In the full text, 17 adverse events were classed as possibly, probably or definitely related to the creams, 6 with aciclovir and 11 with honey, and 9 people withdrew because of adverse events, 3 with aciclovir and 6 with honey; 91 people were lost to follow-up.

The authors found "no evidence of a difference in efficacy" between the two creams. In the full text they note that the trial was designed to test superiority and set no non-inferiority margin for formal testing, although they consider the results "also consistent with non-inferiority" of honey against aciclovir. The result is a tie with an active antiviral cream, not a win over it, and it applies to the kanuka cream tested, not to manuka or table honey. Other cold sore research on this site is on the Lysine for Herpes Simplex and Cold Sores and Lemon Balm Antiviral and Cold Sores pages.

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The Five Trials Side by Side

• Rosacea (2015): 138 adults, plain cetomacrogol cream as comparison, 8 weeks. Benefit: 34.3% against 17.4% improved by at least 2 points.
• Acne (2016): 136 people aged 16 to 40, antibacterial soap alone as comparison, 12 weeks. No significant difference (p=0.17).
• Atopic eczema (2014): 15 adults, aqueous cream on the other side of the body, 2 weeks. No difference (p=0.92).
• Psoriasis (2014): 15 adults, aqueous cream on the other side of the body, 2 weeks. No difference (p=0.25).
• Cold sores (2019): 952 adults, 5% aciclovir cream as comparison, until healed or up to 14 days. Tie: median 9 days against 8 days (p=0.56).

A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of complementary and alternative treatments for acne, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, covering 40 studies of many different remedies, concluded that "there is insufficient evidence to support the efficacy and the recommendation" of these treatments for the three conditions (Jones 2021). That review pooled many remedies and was not about kanuka honey alone.

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Laboratory Findings

The reasons the trials were run come mostly from laboratory work. Everything in this section was measured in test tubes, cell cultures or animals, not in people with skin disease.

• Bacteria in culture. Testing defined manuka, kanuka, blended and clover honeys against four bacteria in the laboratory, Lu and colleagues found the general order of growth inhibition was manuka, then manuka-kanuka blend, then kanuka, then clover. Hydrogen peroxide contributed to the activity of manuka and kanuka honeys but was never essential for complete growth inhibition (Lu 2013).
• Eight New Zealand honeys. In a 2025 laboratory comparison, all eight honeys tested slowed bacterial growth at 25% concentration; manuka, pōhutukawa and kāmahi honeys showed significant inhibitory effects. Kanuka honey was among those with the most arabinogalactan proteins and was high in the plant compound luteolin (George 2025).
• Immune cells: stimulation. In cultured human monocyte cell lines, kanuka, manuka and clover honeys all raised release of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), an inflammatory signal, and kanuka honey was the most active; arabinogalactan proteins purified from kanuka honey did the same (Gannabathula 2012). A later study found that the bee protein apisimin, present in all honeys tested, worked together with these proteins to raise TNF-alpha release from blood monocytes in the laboratory (Gannabathula 2015).
• Immune cells: damping. In engineered cell lines, kanuka honey, and to a lesser extent manuka honey, had a strong anti-inflammatory effect through one specific signalling route (toll-like receptors 1 and 2), linked to their phenolic content; a manuka-kanuka blend and clover honey did not (Tomblin 2014). Several, but not all, kanuka honey samples reduced superoxide production by human neutrophils in a test tube; the follow-up tests on mouse ears used manuka and rewarewa honeys, not kanuka (Leong 2012).

These cell results pull in two directions, stimulating one inflammatory signal and damping another, and the 2022 review describes kanuka honey as both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory in the laboratory (Zucchetta 2022). None of these effects was measured in the skin of trial participants, and the trial results above are the human test of them.

One published case report describes a 66-year-old man whose long-standing actinic keratosis (a rough, scaly sun-damage patch) on the hand went into remission after three months of regular kanuka honey application, with no recurrence at nine months (Mane 2018). A single case report cannot show cause and effect.

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Traditional Māori Use

As tradition: the 2022 review of native New Zealand honeys, drawing on the Ngā Tipu Whakaoranga database of how Māori used plants, states that the native plants it covers, kanuka among them, were used by Māori healers and are still used in rongoā, traditional Māori medicine. Across those plants, the review describes bark boiled and placed on the affected area as the main use, with leaves and young shoots taken as infusions or chewed and applied locally (Zucchetta 2022, full text). These were uses of the plants themselves, not of honey. The review describes Māori communities' interest in producing native honeys such as kanuka as rongoā and as a source of income. The traditional uses describe what was done, and the trials above are separate from them.

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Safety Findings

• Infants under 12 months. A 2026 review of infant botulism found that honey was "the only consistently confirmed dietary source" of the disease, with a median age at onset of 3 to 4 months, and that health authorities uniformly advised against honey for infants before 12 months of age (Aricò 2026). This applies to honey of every kind, kanuka and manuka included. The review reports that death was below 1% when infants received intensive care and specific treatment with human botulism immune globulin. Signs hospitals treat as urgent are listed on the main Manuka Honey page.
• Children and teenagers. None of the five skin trials enrolled anyone under 16, so they give no safety or effect data for children.
• Allergy. Honey is a rare cause of food allergy but can cause severe whole-body allergic reactions; a case report describes anaphylaxis in a 5-year-old boy who was sensitised to ragweed and mugwort pollen, which the authors linked to the pollen content of an unprocessed honey (Di Costanzo 2021). The eczema, psoriasis and cold sore trials excluded people allergic to honey, and the cold sore trial also excluded people allergic to bees or glycerine.
• Skin reactions in the trials. One eczema participant reported more itch on the honey side; the rosacea trial recorded burning, stinging, itching and peeling in similar numbers in both groups; the cold sore trial classed 11 adverse events as related to honey and 6 to aciclovir; the psoriasis trial reported none.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The cold sore trial excluded pregnant and breastfeeding women, so it gives no data for them.

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What Is Not Known

• Independent repetition. All five trials came from one research group and were funded by the maker of the product. No independent group has repeated the rosacea result.
• Comparison with standard rosacea creams. The rosacea trial compared honey with a plain moisturising cream, not with the prescription creams used for rosacea, and lasted 8 weeks; how long any benefit lasts is not known.
• Eczema and psoriasis at scale. Both trials had 15 people and lasted 2 weeks. Their authors state that a small effect cannot be ruled out.
• Which part of the honey matters. The trials used a honey and glycerine cream. No trial tested honey without glycerine, or glycerine without honey, so it is not known how much each part contributed.
• Other honeys. The kanuka results do not transfer to manuka honey, table honey or blends. A different medical-grade honey ointment was tested on cold sores in a 2021 study of 29 people that compared each person's healing with their own earlier, usual treatment rather than with a randomised control group (Naik 2021); it was not a kanuka study and not a randomised trial.
• How it would work in the skin. The laboratory effects on bacteria and immune cells have not been measured in treated human skin.
• Methylglyoxal in kanuka honey. Published analyses disagree on whether kanuka honey carries none, traces or high levels of methylglyoxal, and blending with manuka is one reported source of the variation.

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Key Research Papers

1. Braithwaite I, Hunt A, Riley J, Fingleton J, Kocks J, Corin A, et al. Randomised controlled trial of topical kanuka honey for the treatment of rosacea. BMJ Open. 2015;5(6):e007651. PubMed PMID: 26109117
2. Semprini A, Braithwaite I, Corin A, Sheahan D, Tofield C, Helm C, et al. Randomised controlled trial of topical kanuka honey for the treatment of acne. BMJ Open. 2016;6(2):e009448. PubMed PMID: 26832428
3. Fingleton J, Helm C, Tofield C, Weatherall M, Beasley R. A randomised controlled trial of topical Kanuka honey for the treatment of eczema. JRSM Open. 2014;5(1):2042533313509263. PubMed PMID: 25057363
4. Fingleton J, Sheahan D, Corin A, Weatherall M, Beasley R. A randomised controlled trial of topical Kanuka honey for the treatment of psoriasis. JRSM Open. 2014;5(3):2042533313518913. PubMed PMID: 25057377
5. Semprini A, Singer J, Braithwaite I, Shortt N, Thayabaran D, McConnell M, et al. Kanuka honey versus aciclovir for the topical treatment of herpes simplex labialis: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2019;9(5):e026201. PubMed PMID: 31092654
6. Semprini A, Singer J, Shortt N, Braithwaite I, Beasley R, Pharmacy Research Network. Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of 90% kanuka honey versus 5% aciclovir for the treatment of herpes simplex labialis in the community setting. BMJ Open. 2017;7(8):e017766. PubMed PMID: 28775197
7. Zucchetta C, Tangohau W, McCallion A, Hardy DJ, Clavijo McCormick A. Exploring the Chemical Properties and Biological Activity of Four New Zealand Monofloral Honeys to Support the Māori Vision and Aspirations. Molecules. 2022;27(10):3282. PubMed PMID: 35630758
8. Allen KL, Molan PC, Reid GM. A survey of the antibacterial activity of some New Zealand honeys. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1991;43(12):817-22. PubMed PMID: 1687577
9. Adams CJ, Manley-Harris M, Molan PC. The origin of methylglyoxal in New Zealand manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey. Carbohydr Res. 2009;344(8):1050-3. PubMed PMID: 19368902
10. Mavric E, Wittmann S, Barth G, Henle T. Identification and quantification of methylglyoxal as the dominant antibacterial constituent of Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honeys from New Zealand. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008;52(4):483-9. PubMed PMID: 18210383
11. Beitlich N, Koelling-Speer I, Oelschlaegel S, Speer K. Differentiation of manuka honey from kanuka honey and from jelly bush honey using HS-SPME-GC/MS and UHPLC-PDA-MS/MS. J Agric Food Chem. 2014;62(27):6435-44. PubMed PMID: 24941132
12. Holt S, Johnson K, Ryan J, Catchpole O, Zhang S, Mitchell KA. New Zealand kanuka honey has high levels of methylglyoxal and antimicrobial activity. J Altern Complement Med. 2012;18(3):203-4. (Research letter; no abstract on PubMed; cited for its title only.) PubMed PMID: 22385000
13. Gannabathula S, Skinner MA, Rosendale D, Greenwood JM, Mutukumira AN, Steinhorn G, et al. Arabinogalactan proteins contribute to the immunostimulatory properties of New Zealand honeys. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2012;34(4):598-607. PubMed PMID: 22212104
14. Gannabathula S, Krissansen GW, Skinner M, Steinhorn G, Schlothauer R. Honeybee apisimin and plant arabinogalactans in honey costimulate monocytes. Food Chem. 2015;168:34-40. PubMed PMID: 25172680
15. Tomblin V, Ferguson LR, Han DY, Murray P, Schlothauer R. Potential pathway of anti-inflammatory effect by New Zealand honeys. Int J Gen Med. 2014;7:149-58. PubMed PMID: 24623989
16. Leong AG, Herst PM, Harper JL. Indigenous New Zealand honeys exhibit multiple anti-inflammatory activities. Innate Immun. 2012;18(3):459-66. PubMed PMID: 21978989
17. Lu J, Carter DA, Turnbull L, Rosendale D, Hedderley D, Stephens J, et al. The effect of New Zealand kanuka, manuka and clover honeys on bacterial growth dynamics and cellular morphology varies according to the species. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e55898. PubMed PMID: 23418472
18. George EM, Gannabathula S, Lakshitha R, Liu Y, Kantono K, Hamid N. Antibacterial Properties, Arabinogalactan Proteins, and Bioactivities of New Zealand Honey. Antioxidants (Basel). 2025;14(4):375. PubMed PMID: 40298625
19. Mane S, Singer J, Corin A, Semprini A. Successful Treatment of Actinic Keratosis with Kanuka Honey. Case Rep Dermatol Med. 2018;2018:4628971. PubMed PMID: 29955399
20. Jones VA, Patel PM, Wilson C, Wang H, Ashack KA. Complementary and alternative medicine treatments for common skin diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAAD Int. 2021;2:76-93. PubMed PMID: 34409356
21. Naik PP, Mossialos D, Wijk BV, Novakova P, Wagener FADTG, Cremers NAJ. Medical-Grade Honey Outperforms Conventional Treatments for Healing Cold Sores-A Clinical Study. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021;14(12):1264. PubMed PMID: 34959664
22. Aricò MO, Caselli D, Stefanizzi P, Tafuri S, Aricò M. Infant Botulism and Honey Exposure: Global Epidemiology, Prevention Policies, and Communication Strategies. Acta Paediatr. 2026;115(7):1429-1433. PubMed PMID: 41964486
23. Di Costanzo M, De Paulis N, Peveri S, Montagni M, Berni Canani R, Biasucci G. Anaphylaxis caused by artisanal honey in a child: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2021;15(1):235. PubMed PMID: 33985563

PubMed Topic Searches

1. PubMed: kanuka honey
2. PubMed: honey and rosacea
3. PubMed: honey and cold sores
4. PubMed: topical honey in eczema and psoriasis
5. PubMed: infant botulism and honey

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Connections

• Manuka Honey — Benefits Deep Dive — the hub for this article
• Manuka Honey for Skin Conditions and Acne — the manuka side of the skin evidence
• Manuka Honey — the main topic page
• Rosacea — the condition in the one positive trial
• Acne — the condition and its standard treatments
• Eczema — atopic dermatitis in full
• Psoriasis — the condition in full
• Lysine for Herpes Simplex and Cold Sores — other cold sore research
• Raw Honey vs Pasteurized Honey — including the infant botulism facts

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