For over 40 years, Lynne Ingram has been involved in the art of beekeeping. Ingram is now leading the charge against honey fraud, with the UK Honey Authenticity Network (Han UK) founded in 2021.
The mission is to protect honey from the ever-evolving fraudulent honey's out there on the market.
This isn't a new study; we have previously spoken about the rise of ingenuine honey. People over time have used a range of things, including ash and potato flour to stretch their supply of honey. But with new technology advancing, they can get away with a lot more. "Bespoke, designer, or bioengineered" syrups that can easily slip past authenticity tests, Ingram says.
Not only does honey fraud undermine the purity of one of nature's finest products but threatens the livelihoods of honest beekeepers. If honey fraud continues, this could cause beekeepers to go out of business and have a ripple effect. Reduced crop pollination, lower food product, and devasting impact on the natural ecosystem.
In May, the EU tightened honey regulations to combat fraud. The new rules require all countries of origin to be listed on the honey labels, and transparency about blending practices is not mandatory.
However, the UK having left the EU, is yet to catch up.
British consumers are being misled by vague packaging. Between 2021 and 2022, 46 percent of honey tested at the EU border was flagged as potentially fraudulent.
At Aston University in Birmingham, a team is deploying cutting-edge techniques to detect fraud. They came up with a method known as Fluorescent Excitation-Emission Spectroscopy (FLE), which creates a "molecular fingerprint," of each sample, and therefore easier to detect deceit.
Ingram is hopeful that FLE could set a new standard in honey testing, hopefully making it impossible for fake honey to slip through the cracks.
The future of honey looks sweeter, from the serene somerset beekeepers to the labs of Birmingham, there's a fight going on to keep our honey pure. So remember that as you drizzle honey on your morning breakfast, there's a battle underway to ensure that sweetness is genuine.
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