tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/fake-honey-59089/articlesFake honey – The Conversation2020-01-20T17:29:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1301862020-01-20T17:29:32Z2020-01-20T17:29:32ZFish, sausage, even honey: Food fraud is hidden in plain sight<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310958/original/file-20200120-69539-du7j9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3600%2C2435&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A seafood counter is shown at a store in Toronto in 2018. A study that year found 61 per cent of seafood products tested at Montréal grocery stores and restaurants were mislabelled. Fish is a common victim of food fraud.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The globalization of the food chain has resulted in increased complexity and diminished transparency and trust into how and where our foods are grown, harvested, processed and by whom. </p>
<p>Furthermore, recurring incidents of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4014182/food-fraud-avoiding-fake-product/">food fraud</a> remind us that some of those involved in the food chain are exploiting this complexity. Today, consumers are at an <a href="https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2019/02/20/Fragmented-global-supply-chains-have-led-to-an-increase-in-food-fraud">increased risk</a> of buying lower-quality food than what they paid for, or worse, eating food with unsafe ingredients or undeclared allergens. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310948/original/file-20200120-69535-njt0hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The milkman used to deliver locally sourced milk to your doorstep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Historically, food chain transparency and trust was established between the shopper and the farmer or fishmonger, green grocer, butcher, milkman and baker. Dutch scholar <a href="https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/governing-chinas-food-quality-through-transparency-a-review">Arthur Mol</a> argued that this personal interaction enabled face-to-face transparency, which built trust. </p>
<p>Before modern supermarkets, a local village or town grocery store stocked up to 300 items grown or processed within a 240-kilometre (150-mile) radius. In comparison, our post-modern supermarkets carry an <a href="https://www.fmi.org/our-research/supermarket-facts">average of 33,000</a> items that travel 2,400 kilometres or more. The Canadian government is poised to tackle that problem by announcing <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6435463/buy-canadian-promotional-campaign/">a Buy Canadian food campaign.</a></p>
<p>While the extent of global food fraud is difficult to quantify, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) suggests <a href="https://inspection.gc.ca/food-safety-for-industry/information-for-consumers/food-safety-system/food-fraud/eng/1548444446366/1548444516192">food fraud</a> affects 10 per cent of commercially sold food. Various academic and industry sources suggest that globally, food fraud ranges from US$10 billion to $49 billion. This is likely a conservative range considering estimates of <a href="https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/food-and-wine/cracking-down-on-fake-steak-with-invisible-trackable-barcodes-20180810-h13t3n">fake Australian meats</a> alone and sold worldwide are as high as AUD$4 billion, or more than US$2.5 billion.</p>
<p>If you add the sales of fake wines and alcohol, adulterated honey and spices, mislabelled fish and false claims of organic products, wild-caught fish or grain-fed meat, the numbers, and risks, increase significantly.</p>
<h2>Are Canadian regulations adequate?</h2>
<p>Regulations are in place to protect Canadians. The Safe Food for Canadians Act (known <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2018-108/index.html">as the SFCR</a>) and the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-27/page-2.html#h-234067">Food and Drug Act</a> work together to protect Canadian consumers from food safety and food fraud risks.</p>
<p>The SFCR states that food businesses must have preventative controls in place as well as product traceability records to ensure imported products meet Canadian laws. A provision of the Food and Drug Act states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“No person shall sell an article of food that (a) has in or on it any poisonous or harmful substance; (b) is unfit for human consumption; (c) consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, disgusting, rotten, decomposed or diseased animal or vegetable substance; (d) is adulterated; or (e) was manufactured, prepared, preserved, packaged or stored under unsanitary conditions.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another section of the act declares: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“No person shall label, package, treat, process, sell or advertise any food in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, value, quantity, composition, merit or safety”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But are the regulations being enforced? </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310949/original/file-20200120-69559-m7w9a4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is the honey you enjoy on your toast every morning cut with cheaper corn syrup?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pixabay</span>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The CFIA is very active in food fraud prevention and detection. In July 2019, the agency received $24.4 million in new <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/food-inspection-agency/news/2019/07/government-of-canada-prevents-nearly-12800kg-of-adulterated-honey-from-entering-the-canadian-market.html">food fraud funding</a> after announcing that 12,800 kilograms of adulterated honey was blocked from entering the Canadian market. Honey adulteration is the process of cutting pure honey with fillers and cheaper sweeteners, including corn syrup.</p>
<p>The CFIA has several enforcement instruments it can apply to offenders including <a href="https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/accountability/compliance-and-enforcement/amps/fact-sheet/eng/1547233099837/1547233100149">administrative monetary penalties</a>, <a href="https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/accountability/compliance-and-enforcement/licences/eng/1324052022644/1324052753628">licence suspension or cancellation</a> and <a href="https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/prosecution-bulletins/eng/1298575869119/1299852705293">criminal prosecution</a>. </p>
<h2>Is food fraud the same as consumer fraud?</h2>
<p>No. Canada is recovering from a significant consumer fraud incident where some of the most trusted brands colluded for more than a decade to fix the price of bread in what’s <a href="https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/04335.html">often termed breadgate</a>. This was a breach of the <a href="https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/04267.html">Canadian Competition Act</a>. </p>
<p>Canada was one of the first countries in the world with a formal Competition Act, initiated in 1889. While breadgate’s egregious breach of trust shocked Canadians, consumers are known to have short memories and to quickly forgive. </p>
<p>The protection of insiders acting as whistle-blowers in the food industry is critically important to expose both consumer fraud and food fraud. However, most food fraud detection requires the use of advanced high-tech methods. </p>
<p>In 2017, the University of Guelph’s Biodiversity Institute, in partnership with the CFIA, received $320,000 in <a href="https://news.uoguelph.ca/2017/09/u-g-cfia-collaboration-gets-320000-investment/">federal funding</a> to develop better genomics and DNA bar-coding tools, including portable devices. DNA bar-coding allows researchers to match animal and plant DNA against a reference database to identify a species. </p>
<h2>Mislabelled fish, sausage</h2>
<p>The partnership has published a number of research papers uncovering food fraud and <a href="https://news.uoguelph.ca/2019/02/persistent-seafood-mislabeling-persistent-throughout-canadas-supply-chain-u-of-g-study-reveals/">revealing the mislabelling of fish</a> species in Canadian restaurants and grocery stores, an area of the institute’s research that now spans more than a decade. </p>
<p>In January 2019, the institute <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996919300304?via%3Dihub">published a paper</a> entitled “Re-visiting the occurrence of undeclared species in sausage products sold in Canada” as a followup to a previous study that showed a <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/guelph/20-of-tested-sausages-contained-mislabeled-meat-u-of-g-study-1.3532113">20 per cent mislabelling rate for sausages</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310955/original/file-20200120-69539-idjg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original study found that 20 per cent of sausages sampled from grocery stores across Canada contained meats that weren’t on the label.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo/Tom Lynn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The followup indicated 14 per cent of the 100 sausages tested still contained meat DNA that was undeclared on the label. Even more concerning for the public is that many types of food fraud and mislabelling have gone undetected. New technology and methods of testing still has to catch up. </p>
<p>As social media amplifies recurring high-profile incidents of food fraud, trust in our global food supply chains remains a concern. For the foreseeable future, much of Canada’s food fraud remains hidden in plain sight, sitting right there on our grocery store shelves. </p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John G. Keogh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trust in our global food supply chains remains a concern. For the foreseeable future, much of Canada’s food fraud remains hidden in plain sight, sitting right there on our grocery store shelves.John G. Keogh, Toronto-based, doctoral researcher, Food Chain / Supply Chain Transparency, Trust, Technology, Standards @ Henley Business School, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1055082018-11-06T05:32:28Z2018-11-06T05:32:28ZMānuka honey: who really owns the name and the knowledge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244004/original/file-20181105-74775-rw2dak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=880%2C485%2C5101%2C3449&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the case of mānuka honey, there are serious questions about what authenticity actually means. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://theconversation.com/how-better-tests-and-legal-deterrence-could-clean-up-the-sticky-mess-left-behind-by-fake-honey-row-102973">Adulterated honey</a> and <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/latest-edition/6784835/Fake-manuka-honey-threatens-industry">fake mānuka honey</a> have repeatedly made headlines in recent years. </p>
<p>The arguments around adulterated honey are relatively simple. These honeys are diluted with cheaper syrups and their lack of authenticity is unquestionable. The discourse around mānuka honey is different, as there are serious questions about what authentic mānuka honey actually means. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/honeygate-deepens-as-new-tests-reveal-27-of-brands-are-adulterated-104139">'Honeygate' deepens as new tests reveal 27% of brands are adulterated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Two warring families</h2>
<p>The term mānuka carries with it a <a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/8/25/12644050/manuka-honey-why-so-expensive">premium</a>. Mānuka honey is made from the nectar of the <em>Leptospermum scoparium</em> flower. This plant is native to New Zealand and south-east Australia. It is, thus, not surprising that much of the war around the term mānuka has played out between Australian and New Zealand producers.</p>
<p>There are many registered trademarks in Australia and New Zealand that include the word mānuka and relate to honey-based products. In July, the Australian Manuka Honey Association filed to <a href="https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1939743?fs=PENDING&fst=WORD&q=manuka">protect its name</a>. </p>
<p>The parallel New Zealand entity, the Mānuka Honey Appellation Society Inc, has filed for a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/102477715/nz-accepts-mnuka-honey-as-trademark-term-as-australian-government-funds-objection">certification trademark</a> for the term mānuka honey. If granted, traders in New Zealand would only be able to market their products as mānuka honey if they satisfy a certain standard and are certified as such. </p>
<p>The Mānuka Honey Appellation Society Inc sought the same certification trademark in <a href="https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1752903?s=511a7039-d065-4b6b-b91c-a837171eebe5">Australia</a> and the <a href="https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/4/EU017285421">UK</a>. The New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries has a <a href="https://www.mpi.govt.nz/growing-and-harvesting/honey-and-bees/manuka-honey/">definition for authentic mānuka honey</a>, which includes a certain DNA marker and four chemical compounds. Comvita have separately <a href="http://www.umf.org.nz/%7Bhttps://patents.google.com/patent/WO2017099612A1/en">filed patent applications</a> for marker compounds to <a href="https://www.comvita.co.nz/purest-source/manuka-honey/rangeNZ00001">identify true mānuka honey</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-fake-honey-and-why-didnt-the-official-tests-pick-it-up-102573">What is fake honey and why didn’t the official tests pick it up?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in a name</h2>
<p>Despite the value embodied in the term mānuka, Māori interests are often left out of the discussion. Similarly, little attention is given to the disagreement within Māoridom about who has jurisdiction over mānuka. </p>
<p>This is despite the glaringly obvious fact that mānuka is the <a href="http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/foma-disagrees-australias-claim-manuka-honey-trademark">Māori term</a> for <em>L.scoparium</em>. Put another way, a war of words is playing out. And, while the war is over a Māori word, Māori are not seen as a key player. Instead, it is industry and government that we see on the field.</p>
<p>The fact that Māori are often left out from the conversation around the authenticity of mānuka honey reflects a long history of western law and science ignoring indigenous peoples, at best, or treating them as non-stakeholders or sources to be mined for information, at worst. The issue runs deeper than simply the use of a Māori word.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Māori have long used the mānuka plant for medicinal purposes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>From ancient grudge break to new mutiny</h2>
<p><em>L.scoparium</em> is near endemic to New Zealand. Māori have long used the plant and honey derived from it for various purposes, from brewing beer to <a href="https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/2988">multiple medicinal purposes</a>. The latter includes the treatment of urinary complaints, fevers, burns, dysentery, skin and muscle inflammations, eye and mouth problems, pain relief and as a sedative. Teas were made from the leaves of the plant to <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/rongoa-medicinal-use-of-plants">ease fevers</a>, or from the bark to treat dysentery and diarrhoea.</p>
<p>The use of <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@future-learning/2018/07/09/145825/patents-raise-concern-over-threat-to-maori-knowledge">Māori traditional knowledge</a> to further western science is not new. In a recent <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3209589">study of patent applications</a> filed in New Zealand, 25 applications were identified that used some aspect of the plant, honey or ingredient as a major component.</p>
<p>Half of the inventions were in the pharmaceutical industry. Many of these used the antibiotic properties of mānuka honey and were compositions including the honey or an extract. Several applied the antibiotic properties of the essential oil in <em>L.scoparium</em>. Three of the applications related to food or beverages. Two inventions were in the cosmetic industry.</p>
<h2>I take thee at thy word</h2>
<p>In 2013, New Zealand passed <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0068/52.0/DLM1419043.html">new patent legislation</a>, which created a <a href="https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/maori-ip/maori-advisory-committees/">Māori Advisory Committee</a>. This has the role of advising the Commissioner of Patents on whether an invention is derived from Māori traditional knowledge or “indigenous plants or animals” and, if so, whether “the commercial exploitation of that invention is likely to be contrary to Māori values”. The commissioner uses this advice to determine whether the “commercial exploitation” of an invention would be contrary to “public order” or “morality”. </p>
<p>These provisions have the potential to introduce te ao Māori (the Māori world) into a western legal paradigm. It has yet to be seen if they will truly meet Māori concerns. Of the 25 inventions identified in the study, 13 appeared to be derivative of a known Māori use. However, only four of these came under the Patents Act 2013. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, none of the four had gone through full examination by the <a href="https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/trade-marks/process/">Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand</a>. Two were open for public inspection and two were recently filed. Indeed, no applications had gone to the Māori Advisory Committee. Thus, it remains to be seen what exactly the committee’s role will be and how it might affect applications for patents over inventions pertaining to mānuka in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica C Lai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While industry bodies fight over who can claim that their mānuka honey is authentic, Māori interests are often left out of the debate.Jessica C Lai, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1041392018-10-03T07:08:51Z2018-10-03T07:08:51Z‘Honeygate’ deepens as new tests reveal 27% of brands are adulterated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239073/original/file-20181003-699-1dqr25z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The new discovery significantly deepens the 'fake honey' scandal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Subbotina Anna/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than a quarter of commercial honey brands have potentially been watered down with sugar cane, corn syrup or other products, according to our new analysis of 95 products from local food markets and supermarket shelves.</p>
<p>Our discovery is set to deepen the concern over the authenticity of honey for sale in Australia, in the wake of last month’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-03/capilano-and-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey/10187628">“fake honey” scandal</a>, which revealed the widespread adulteration of honey with cheaper substances.</p>
<p>Australia is the world’s <a href="https://www.vff.org.au/vff/Industries/Horticulture/Beekeepers/Honey_Production_in_Australia/vff/Industry_Groups/Horticulture/Beekeepers/Honey_Production_in_Australia.aspx?hkey=bbb529de-9155-4a9f-b513-dd5fff5ad336">fourth-largest honey exporter</a>, and the revelations pose a threat to its reputation as a leading producer and supplier of honey.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-fake-honey-and-why-didnt-the-official-tests-pick-it-up-102573">What is fake honey and why didn’t the official tests pick it up?</a>
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<p>Our study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32764-w">published in Nature’s Scientific Reports</a>, analysed 100 honeys from 19 countries, including Australia. The study included five raw honey samples (that is, honey direct from the hive) and 95 commercial samples, 38 of them from Australian-based producers. </p>
<p>Analysis of the 95 commercial honeys showed that 27% of them were of “questionable authenticity”, meaning they had potentially been adulterated with cane and/or corn syrups. This means they should not be classified as <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32001L0110">genuine pure honey</a>. </p>
<p>Of the Australian-sourced commercial honeys we analysed, 18% were identified as likely to have been adulterated in a similar way.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238871/original/file-20181002-85632-1rn5hx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Results of pure and adulterated Australasian honeys analysed in this study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monique Chilton/Copperplate Design</span></span>
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<p>Our study used the only <a href="http://www.eoma.aoac.org/methods/info.asp?ID=13408">internationally accepted method</a> for determining honey adulteration. This method detects the presence of sugars from a type of plants known as C4 plants – the group that includes corn and sugar cane – as opposed to pure honey, which is made from the nectar of flowers from a different group, called C3 plants.</p>
<p>C4 and C3 plants each have unique <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/isotope/Variations-in-isotopic-abundances">isotopic signatures</a>, which allows us to ascertain whether a honey sample is pure (containing only compounds from C3 plants) or whether it has been adulterated with sugars from C4 plants.</p>
<h2>An old problem</h2>
<p>Honey adulteration is nothing new. It has been on the rise <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092422441500196X">since the 1970s</a>, when cheap high-fructose corn syrup became widely available. Because both corn syrup and sugar cane are cheaper than honey, they are an easy way to increase honey volume and boost profits. </p>
<p>Some operators adulterate honey with rice sugars that enable them to circumvent the C4 test. Some rice syrup producers <a href="https://m.alibaba.com/product/60791877632/HFCS-pass-c3-c4-c13-high.html?s=p&spm=a2706.amp_showroom">openly advertise the fact</a> that their products will not cause adulterated honeys to fail the C4 test.</p>
<p>Honey can be adulterated either during or after production. Inadvertent adulteration might happen through overfeeding of sucrose to bees during periods when food sources are limited, or at harvest time. This practice, if done occasionally, can <a href="https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/532260/Feeding-sugar-to-honey-bees.pdf">protect colonies at times of low food availability</a>. But if used injudiciously it can also filter through into the finished product.</p>
<p>Of course, our study also comes hot on the heels of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-03/capilano-and-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey/10187628">recent revelations</a> that 12 of 28 Australian honeys were adulterated with rice and other syrups. That discovery was made using a <a href="https://www.bruker.com/products/mr/nmr-food-screening/honey-profiling/overview.html">new proprietary method</a> that can reportedly detect adulteration with a wider range of compounds and also identify the geographic origins of the honey. However, this method does not currently meet the provisions of the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i8608en/I8608EN.pdf">Codex Alimentarius Commission</a>, the international body that sets food standards. </p>
<p>Our research group has <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b04084">previously shown</a> that honey can indeed be traced back to its point of origin, by comparing trace chemicals in bees and their honey with those in the dusts and soils where it was <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749118306080">produced</a>. </p>
<p>In our latest research, we therefore also investigated whether the commercial honey samples can indeed be tracked back to where they supposedly came from. We found that honey from different continents and regions do indeed have different chemical signatures, which paves the way for detecting <a href="http://en.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20130518-honey-imported-china-falsely-labelled-when-sold-france">mislabelled or geographically fraudulent honey</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-better-tests-and-legal-deterrence-could-clean-up-the-sticky-mess-left-behind-by-fake-honey-row-102973">How better tests and legal deterrence could clean up the sticky mess left behind by fake honey row</a>
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<p>There is no evidence that adulterated honeys cause any significant health risk (beyond those posed by eating sugary foods anyway). However, in many cases consumers are not getting the supposedly genuine pure honey they have paid for. </p>
<p>But our research, along with <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/oc_control-progs_honey_jrc-tech-report_2016.pdf">previous studies</a>, reveals the scale of the problem. </p>
<p>For Australian honey to retain its premium position in the global market, there needs to be a better framework around the chain of custody and certification of honey. Only then will customers have a guarantee that their “pure” honey is exactly what it says on the label.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104139/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More than a quarter of commercially available honeys show signs of having been bulked out with cheaper products such as sugar cane and corn syrup, a new analysis shows.Mark Patrick Taylor, Professor of Environmental Science, Macquarie UniversityXiaoteng Zhou, PhD candidate, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1029732018-09-16T20:10:58Z2018-09-16T20:10:58ZHow better tests and legal deterrence could clean up the sticky mess left behind by fake honey row<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236131/original/file-20180913-133886-1jz9ows.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=518%2C502%2C4973%2C3095&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The industry selling honey and bee products is booming. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/capilano-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey-20180827-p5000u.html?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0">fake honey scandal</a>, involving Australia’s largest honey producer <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com.au/australian-company-research-reports/manufacturing/capilano-honey-limited-company.html">Capilano</a>, prompted calls for better purity tests and regulation of the industry.</p>
<p>Tests by Germany’s <a href="https://www.qsi-q3.com/products/honey-bee-products-2/">Quality Services International</a> allegedly showed that some of Capilano’s product, marketed as 100% honey sourced from Australia and China, had been adulterated with cheaper syrups. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-fake-honey-and-why-didnt-the-official-tests-pick-it-up-102573">What is fake honey and why didn’t the official tests pick it up?</a>
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<h2>Trust and confidence</h2>
<p>The honey and bee products industry is <a href="https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-global-honey-industry-set-to-expand-at-a-compound-annual-growth-rate-of-2-6/">fast-growing</a>, innovative and to a significant extent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037887419190135Z">based on science</a>.</p>
<p>For suppliers, especially those from less regulated markets, there is a strong <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/manuka-honey-wars-new-zealand-crime-booming-industry-poisoning-beatings">economic incentive to engage in</a> false or misleading marketing. After all, claims regarding exact ingredients, or health benefits and country of origin, are “credence qualities”. They are hard (if not impossible) for the average consumer to verify. At the same time, ensuring that products are known for their authenticity and integrity is essential for the industry’s reputation and growth. </p>
<p>The problem is widespread. Apart from Australia, recent examples of misconduct, including dubious labelling, can be found in <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/honey-gate-how-europe-is-being-flooded-with-fake-honey/">Europe</a>, <a href="https://comcom.govt.nz/case-register/case-register-entries/topline-international-and-jeffrey-bernard-cook">New Zealand</a>, the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-26/the-new-zealand-honey-that-s-causing-legal-problems-in-the-u-s">United States</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/awash-with-fakes-the-honey-makers-holding-the-line-in-china-s-dodgy-market-20180907-p502b1.html">China</a>. In a globalised world, this presents some complex challenges. </p>
<p>Mislabelling and misleadingly marketing products can have weighty consequences. Fraudulent behaviour reduces consumers’ ability to make informed decisions, while undermining their trust and confidence. Consumer trust in the marketplace, however, is essential for the proper functioning of markets. More generally, trust is a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Self-Interest-Common-Marek-Kohn/dp/B006LWGTQK">fundamental component in modern societies</a>. </p>
<h2>Spilling the honey</h2>
<p>From an economic perspective, the misconduct of one firm can have spillover effects on other companies. When consumers learn about misleading or deceptive behaviours, they may question the integrity of other players in that market. </p>
<p>The reduction of trust and confidence can prompt consumers to doubt firms’ statements and may lead some to stop buying the products. As a consequence, producers have to invest more resources to convince consumers that their statements are true and honest.</p>
<p>Misleading conduct can also increase regulation costs when higher or stricter standards are employed. The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/capilano-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey-20180827-p5000u.html">Capilano case</a>, with its controversy around the adoption of more effective testing methods, illustrates this. Capilano’s product passed the official Australian test method, which scientists <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/capilano-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey-20180827-p5000u.html">consider substandard by international comparison</a>.</p>
<p>Following media coverage of this scandal, some have called for consumer organisations to step in and be more vigilant in monitoring this market. For instance, it has been reported that former competition watchdog chairman <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/allan-fels">Allan Fels</a> called on the <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/">Australian Competition and Consumer Commission</a> to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/investigation-supermarkets-are-unwittingly-selling-fake-honey/10198600">prioritise anything involving food adulteration</a>. Consumer law, of course, can be used to punish misleading and deceptive labelling. However, using the legal system is not a panacea, and can be costly. </p>
<p>Furthermore, enforcement agencies - which operate with scarce resources - cannot enforce all laws all of the time. Hence, breaches of the law are not always detected. Even when they are, they are not always followed by legal enforcement.</p>
<h2>How to solve a sticky problem</h2>
<p>It is in the market’s best interest to <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMR.2007.25275684">promote informal and formal self-regulation</a>. In New Zealand, the Mānuka Honey Appellation Society Inc has filed for a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/102477715/nz-accepts-mnuka-honey-as-trademark-term-as-australian-government-funds-objection">certification trademark</a> for the term mānuka honey. Accordingly, traders in New Zealand would only be able to market their products as mānuka honey if they satisfy the standard and are certified as such. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-or-snake-oil-is-manuka-honey-really-a-superfood-for-treating-colds-allergies-and-infections-78400">Science or Snake Oil: is manuka honey really a 'superfood' for treating colds, allergies and infections?</a>
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<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.comvita.co.nz/purest-source/manuka-honey/rangeNZ00001">Comvita</a> and <a href="http://www.umf.org.nz/">UMF Honey</a> have separately <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2017099612A1/en">filed patent applications for marker compounds</a> that can be used to identify true mānuka honey. Such standards should be clear and unified, so not to confuse consumers. </p>
<p>Offsetting the economic incentive to cheat is not a simple task. It requires combining social and moral incentives with legal deterrence. Clear rules and standards, honest industry norms, and encouragement and protection for whistle-blowers all help to prevent dishonest and distrustful behaviour. At the end of the day, we want to live in an ethical and trusting society, where we can simply enjoy our honey and know that it is what it claims to be on the packaging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The bee product industry is booming and in unregulated markets, there is a strong economic incentive to cheat. Self regulation combined with legal deterrence could help clean up the sticky mess.Samuel Becher, Associate Professor of Business Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonHongzhi Gao, Senior Lecturer, International Business; PhD, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonJessica C Lai, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1025732018-09-03T07:46:06Z2018-09-03T07:46:06ZWhat is fake honey and why didn’t the official tests pick it up?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234605/original/file-20180903-41720-ymv9ax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fake honey products have been found in Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">hounddiggity/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has been rocked this week by reports that many products labelled as honey are actually fake or “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-03/capilano-and-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey/10187628">adulterated</a>” honey. </p>
<p>Capilano, Australia’s largest honey producer, has been accused of selling products mixed with cheaper syrups. But Capilano has hit back, claiming the testing method is unreliable. So what is “fake” honey really made of? And can we be sure of what we’re getting?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-farmer-wants-a-hive-inside-the-world-of-renting-bees-94904">The farmer wants a hive: inside the world of renting bees</a>
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<h2>What have I been eating?</h2>
<p>Honey is a mixture of sugars, mostly fructose and glucose. But honey has particular <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228638619_Presence_of_C4_Sugars_in_Honey_Samples_Detected_by_The_Carbon_Isotope_Ratio_Measured_by_IRMS">flavours and properties</a> that come from the flowers and the natural processing the bees do.</p>
<p>Fake honey is generally some honey mixed with other sugar syrups. These syrups come from plants like sugar cane, corn, or rice. They can be cheaper and easier to produce than honey. </p>
<p>While these contaminating syrups aren’t likely to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-brown-raw-honey-which-type-of-sugar-is-best-91074">harmful</a>, they might have different nutrient profiles, sweetness levels, glycemic indexes, and have undergone different processing.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-brown-raw-honey-which-type-of-sugar-is-best-91074">White, brown, raw, honey: which type of sugar is best?</a>
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<p>It is legal to sell honey blends, like glucose and honey, or “honey flavoured sugar syrups” but these need to be labelled so people know what they are paying for.</p>
<h2>This isn’t the first fake honey on the market</h2>
<p>In 2014 the ACCC <a href="http://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-acts-on-hi-honey-misrepresentations">fined two companies</a> for selling “Turkish Sugar Syrup” labelled as honey. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has been aware for some time of concerns about <a href="http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/generalissues/Pages/Honey.aspx">imported honey</a> – it appears that all the affected products contain some imported honey – and recommends that concerned consumers check for country of origin labelling on honey products.</p>
<p>Fake honey has also been previously detected in the <a href="https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-illegal-honey-again/">United States</a> and <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/honey-gate-how-europe-is-being-flooded-with-fake-honey/">Europe</a>.</p>
<h2>But don’t they test honey for purity?</h2>
<p>The official test in Australia to check if honey is pure is called the “C4 sugar test.” Plants have different ways of producing sugars, using different chemical pathways depending on the plant and the conditions in which it is grown. Bees collect nectar mostly from flowers of plants in the “C3 cycle”, and much less from plants using C4 pathways to make sugars.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-or-snake-oil-is-manuka-honey-really-a-superfood-for-treating-colds-allergies-and-infections-78400">Science or Snake Oil: is manuka honey really a 'superfood' for treating colds, allergies and infections?</a>
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<p>The C4 test picks up most fake honey, because most of the cheap sugar syrups used to make fake honey came from C4 plants, like corn and sugar cane. But newer substitutes, like rice, wheat, and beet syrups, come from C3 plants, and so <a href="http://www.ihc-platform.net/elfleinealcirms.pdf">won’t be picked up</a>.</p>
<h2>How is this new test different?</h2>
<p>The fake honey in this most recent scandal was identified by a method called “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance” (NMR for short). NMR works because all molecules are made up of atoms, and atoms have nuclei at their centres. Nuclei have electrical charges, and many also have a physical property known as spin (the nucleus rotates on its own axis, like the earth). </p>
<p>This means they are sensitive to magnetic fields and the nuclei of each type of atom will move differently when they are applied. Basically, by measuring how the nuclei in the sample respond to different magnetic fields, we can get a <a href="https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/spectrpy/nmr/nmr1.htm">fingerprint</a> of what is in the sample. This means it isn’t restricted to just testing for C4 sugars, and it can detect non-honey sugars from any source. This is why some honeys may pass the standard test, but not pass an NMR test.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bee-economist-explains-honey-bees-vital-role-in-growing-tasty-almonds-101421">A bee economist explains honey bees' vital role in growing tasty almonds</a>
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<p>NMR is a very sensitive technique already used in other parts of the food industry, such as testing fruit juices and wines. In honey, it can distinguish between the different types of sugars and detect other components that give honey its unique flavours. This means it can potentially be used to pinpoint the <a href="https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-07893372-0a37-3bfd-828f-5472123279bf">geographical location</a> of honey. This isn’t the official and international standard test, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t scientifically sound. It is a relatively new method that may be adopted by official bodies in the future.</p>
<p>Some argue that NMR isn’t ideal because you can get different results depending on the lab. This can be because of the different reference databases used. However, NMR has been shown to be able to detect honey adulterated with other sugar syrups in a number of studies including, <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/ay/c6ay01082b#!divAbstract">rice syrup</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260877414001228">corn syrup</a>.</p>
<h2>What should I do?</h2>
<p>You probably don’t need to go throwing away your honey. It might have other sugars in it, but it is still safe to eat. All the honey products implicated in this latest scandal contained some imported honey blended with Australian honey. So read the label, and look for Australian sourced honey to increase the chances you are getting what you pay for.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unique-pollen-signatures-in-australian-honey-could-help-tackle-a-counterfeit-industry-97859">Unique pollen signatures in Australian honey could help tackle a counterfeit industry</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Beckett is a member of the following: The Nutrition Society of Australia, the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology, the EMCR Forum Executive, and the International Society for Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics. She is an NHMRC Early Career Fellow. </span></em></p>Australia’s largest honey producer has been accused of selling fake honey. But what is fake honey – and why has it only been found now?Emma Beckett, Postdoctoral Fellow (Human Molecular Nutrition), School of Medicine and Public Health, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.