With real honey prices hovering at $3,000, or £2,370, per tonne globally, experts are urging shoppers not to get stung when shopping for the sweet stuff.
That’s because diluted honey which costs around $500, or £400, per tonne, is being sneakily pushed onto supermarket shelves with many none-the-wiser.
The difference in price is stark, yet it is not always easy for shoppers to tell whether they are getting 100 per cent genuine honey in the shops or not.
Certain honey brands blend EU honey with non-EU honey – a concoction that has been around for while.
The latter is permitted to contain glucose syrup and other less pricey added ingredients which are banned under EU regulations.
Syrups made with ingredients like beetroot, rice or other cheap crops can all be mixed in to bulk up honey on the cheap.
However, these less expensive ingredients lack the unique nutritional qualities and enzymes contained in real honey.
Get the genuine product: Not all honey contains exactly what you’d imagine
Last year, tests commissioned by the Honey Authenticity Network and conducted by Estonia’s Celvia laboratory discovered that more than 90 per cent of honey jars from major British retailers were packed with cheap fillers like sugar syrups.
In total, 24 out of the 25 jars of honey from retailers were considered ‘suspicious’ as a result of the laboratory tests.
By contrast, all five samples from local British beekeepers passed the authenticity tests.
Speaking to This is Money, Dale Gibson, of Bermondsey Street Bees, said: ‘The availability of the fake honey at prices 80 per cent below the real cost of production has tempted honeypackers, the big commercial players, to dramatically reduce their honey purchases from authentic UK honey producers to token levels and fill up with adulterated, anonymous “honey”.
‘It’s food fraud, plain and simple.’
He added: ‘Any honey which has been “blended” has been industrially processed, heat-treated – killing essential enzymes – and sourced from nebulous origins and constructed by food scientists. That means avoid anything labelled as “a blend of….”.’
‘The bees have already blended real honey from nectar harvested from natural sources of trees, shrubs and flowers.’
Lynne Ingram, chair of the Honey Authenticity Network UK, told This is Money: ‘Globally honey prices have gone down as the market is flooded with cheap imported “honey”.
‘In Britain we import 51,000 tonnes of honey, of which a growing percentage (77%) is from China (39,000) tonnes.
‘These impossibly low prices mean that genuine honey producers are being put out of business all over the world, as they cannot compete with “honey” produced in factories. Nowhere in the world can real honey be produced and sold for 69p per jar.’
Examine honey ingredients carefully
So, before buying a jar of honey at the supermarket, it is worth examining the ingredients list carefully.
When first looking at honey in the shops, make sure you check its origin carefully.
Ms Ingram said: ‘Shoppers should ideally buy British honey. Read the label – it should say “Produce of UK”. If the label says “Produced in the UK”, that usually means that the contents come from abroad but are packed in the UK.
‘Beware of “honey” saying “A blend of non-EU honey” or “blend of honey from many countries” – much of this will have come from China and cannot be guaranteed to be pure honey.’
She added: ‘Sometimes enzymes are added to honey diluted with syrups, to mimic the natural enzymes added to honey by bees.
‘Pollen may be added, if the “honey” has been ultra filtered or put through resin technologies to remove antibiotics or pesticides, to replace that which has been filtered out.
The real deal: Dale Gibson runs Bermondsey Street Bees
‘Sometimes things are removed from “honey”.
‘For example certain markers show up in tests that indicate that honey has been adulterated.
‘We are now seeing the Chinese honey factories selling “NMR” proof “honey”, designed to get round honey authenticity tests.’
Sunna van Kampen, founder of Tonic Health, told This is Money: ‘Tests have shown that more than 90 per cent of honey on supermarket shelves is not pure honey and has likely been cut with sugar syrup to make it more affordable.
‘Most honeys and even organic honey are often from a blend of EU and non-EU honey’s meaning there are lots of opportunities for the honey to be bulked out along the way.
‘We always advise our community to look for honey of single origin to limit the chance of adulteration in the supply chain.’
At present, in Britain there is no requirement to identify the countries of origin of honey blended from more than one country.
According to Black Mountain Honey, if you put a spoonful of real undiluted honey into a glass of water, it should settle at the bottom of the glass without dissolving quickly. If it dissolves quickly, it may not be the real deal.
This week the Food Standards Agency told The Independent that while that while ‘there’s no evidence that any honey on sale in the UK is unsafe, it is a product that can be at risk of fraud’.
The EU has introduced new testing methods and labelling laws to ensure shoppers can trust where their honey comes from and what it contains. However, Britain is yet to follow suit.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told This is Money: ‘We take any type of food fraud very seriously.
‘There is no place for adulterated honey which undermines consumer confidence and disadvantages responsible businesses acting within the law.
‘We work closely with enforcement authorities to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to adulteration, meets our high standards – and maintains a level playing field between honey producers.’
Andrew Quinn, head of the FSA’s NFCU, said: ‘Honey is a complex natural product. While there is no evidence that any honey on sale in the UK is unsafe, it is a product that can be at risk of fraud. The FSA is working hard with Defra on advancing a testing programme, so the UK has access to the best methods and approaches for testing honey for evidence of adulteration.
‘We are also working with local authority partners to tackle this issue together, so we can better protect legitimate businesses and consumers, who have a right to expect that honey on sale is what it says it is.’
On whether enough is being done to stop diluted honey hitting our shelves, Mr Gibson of Bermondsey Street Bees, said: ‘The Honey (England) Regulations 2015 are perfectly adequate to disqualify fake honey.
‘It is the political will and the absence of resolve by Food Standards which are lacking. Time and time again, test results call out adulterated supermarket honeys – yet no enforcement action is taken.
‘Honey fraud is big business – with profit margins as fat as drug smuggling – but without the risk of having your bedroom door kicked down and a gun pointed at your head at 4am.
‘That’s why honey is the third most adulteration food on the planet, behind wine and olive oil.
‘That’s what our bees and beekeepers are really up against.’
Ms Ingram said: ‘The EU Honey Directive 2024 requires all the countries of origin in imported honey blends to be listed on the labels in order of quantity.
‘We call on the UK government to align with this, so that consumers can make an informed choice about what they are buying.
‘A “blend of non-EU honey” on the label means the consumer has no idea where the product comes from, what they are buying or putting into their mouths. Syrup does not have the health-giving properties of real honey.’
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