News

 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a survey of imported honey for exogenous sugars in 2021 and 2022. More than 70% of the honey consumed in the U.S. is imported. From January 2021 to March 2022, the FDA collected and tested 144 samples from either bulk or retail packaged shipments labelled as “honey”, to determine whether they contained undeclared added sugars. About 40% of the samples originated in India and Vietnam, the top two sources of honey imported by the U.S. The analysis used was the AOAC method for C4 sugars (cane sugar and corn syrups). Of the 144 imported samples collected and tested, the FDA found 14 (10%) to have carbon isotope values  atypical of authentic honey, and were considered non-compliant. When the FDA found a sample to be non-compliant, it refused entry of the shipment into the U.S. and placed the associated company and product on Import Alert, which means that for those products to be admitted into the U.S., the company is required to provide evidence to the FDA to overcome the non-compliance, such as the test results of a third-party laboratory, verifying that the product does not contain added sugars.

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 A research project by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) using the AOAC mass spectrometry method for C4 sugar addition found that 75 to 86.5% of local honey brands on the Philippine market are adulterated with sugar syrups from either sugar cane or maize. The study's findings have been passed the the Philippine government for further investigation and hopefuly resolution to assist legitimate honey producers, who are losing considerable sales due to the widespread distribution of adulterated honey in the market, and consumers who are deceived into buying them.

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The official AOAC method for  the detection of C₄ derived exogenous sugars, such as cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup, in honey is based on stable-isotope ratio mass spectrometry analysis of δ¹³C value of honey versus δ¹³C of honey protein. However, this method gives false positives with certain Australian honeys, especially those from the Leptospermum species such as Manuka honey. Australian researchers have improved the method, which not only determines the isotopic values of “proteins” precipitated using the standard AOAC method, but also “proteins” precipitated after incorporation of a further modification step, which removes insoluble material (including pollen) from the honey before precipitation. The modified method includes the analysis of different isotopes of the precipitated protein, sugar profiles and Manuka markers. This new method will detect residual sugar feeding of bees, as well as the adulteration of honey with C₄ sugar.

Read the abstract here