To be eligible for a loan, the honey must:

(a) Have been produced by an eligible producer;

(b) Have been produced in the United States during the calendar year for which a loan is requested and extracted on or before December 31 of such calendar year;

(c) Be of merchantable quality deemed by CCC to be suitable for loan; that is, the honey:

(1) Is not adulterated;

(2) Has not been scorched, burned, or subjected to excessive heat resulting in objectionable flavor, color deterioration or carmelization;

(3) Does not contain any ineligible honey floral sources; such as andromeda, bitterweed, broomweed, cajeput (melaleuca), carrot, chinquapin, dog fennel, desert hollyhock, gumweed, mescal, onion, prickly pear, prune, queen's delight, rabbit brush, snowbrush (ceanothus), snow-on-the-mountain, spurge (leafy spurge), tarweed, and similar objectionably-flavored honey or blends of honey as determined by the Director, Price Support Division, FSA. If any blends of honey contain such ineligible honey, the lot as a whole will be considered ineligible for loan;

(4) Does not contain excessive bees or bee parts, paint chips, wood chips, or other foreign matter; and

(5) Is not fermenting; and

(d) Be stored in acceptable containers.