Honey Fraud

Honey is a valuable agricultural product that is appreciated worldwide for its flavour and reported beneficial health effects. However, honey is notably vulnerable to acts of food fraud. According to Decernis, a Foodchain ID company, honey is the third-most-faked food in the world behind milk and olive oil.

The extent to which fraudulent honey is available for sale in South Africa is unclear; however, there is an obvious supply-demand imbalance. Local producers are only able to meet half of the country’s demand for honey. This shortage, in addition to the high economic value of honey, creates major opportunity for honey fraud.

Honey fraud can take on many forms, but is most often associated with mislabelling and adulteration.

Honey adulteration

Honey may be diluted or substituted with inexpensive sugar syrups to increase production volumes and consequently increase profit margins. Examples of sugar syrup adulterants used in honey include cane syrup, corn syrup, glucose syrup, inverted syrup, beet syrup and rice syrup .

Honey mislabelling

Honey origin may be mislabelled for economic gain.

Honey origin refers to both geographical origin (the location where the honey was produced) and botanical origin (the plant species visited by the bees during honey production).

R. 835 indicates that a honey product may be labelled with its geographical origin and botanical origin, provided that a true reflection of the kind of honey is contained therein. Therefore, mislabelling the origin of a honey product is considered fraudulent.

Botanical origin

Honey is classed as monofloral or multifloral, depending on whether it was produced wholly or mainly from a single plant species, or from several plant species, respectively. Monofloral honey tends to have higher demand and economic value compared to multifloral honey as it has a more distinct flavour profile, which is valued by consumers. Consequently, fraudsters may mislabel honey as having a particular botanical origin to increase their profits.

Geographical origin

Honey from a specific region or country may achieve a greater market stake and price. Consumers may attribute a relationship between honey quality and geographical origin, providing motive for fraudsters to mislabel honey products for economic gain.

Other types of fraud:

Misrepresentation of honey quality

R. 835 indicates that honey must be well ripened in the hive in order to contain the correct moisture content and enzyme activity. If honey is harvested too early, these parameters will be out of specification and the quality of the honey will be compromised.

Both the Codex Standard for Honey (CXS 12-1981, section 3.2) and R. 835 (regulation 6 (2)) indicate that honey must not be heated or processed to such an extent that its quality is impaired or its essential composition is changed – e.g., its natural enzymes are destroyed or made inactive.

Therefore, the sale of unripe honey or honey that has been severely heat treated is prohibited by R. 835. The sale of such honey could be considered honey fraud.

Indirect adulteration via feeding of bees

The intensive feeding of bees with sugar syrups during periods of nectar flow may be considered a form of indirect honey adulteration.

Supplemental feeding of bees may be necessary during periods when natural food sources are inadequate, or to support weak colonies. However, feeding bees during periods of honey production to recover greater volumes of honey from hives is often considered fraud.

R. 835 defines honey as the sweet foodstuff derived from the nectar of flowers, sugary excretions of insects, plant juices or sugary secretions of living plant parts other than flowers. This definition does not include the use of sugar syrups for honey production.

Honey produced by bees that have been fed with sugar syrups tends to have a similar sugar profile to adulterated honey. This honey also contains a lower concentration of the compounds that provide the perceived health benefits associated with authentic honey, such as phenolic compounds.

FACTS strives to stay on top of honey-fraud trends and come up with testing solutions that best support our clients’ needs. For more information on honey testing, assistance with food fraud, and/or consulting on regulatory requirements, please contact us.

Other articles and resources you may be interested in:
Honey Variations
Types of honey products
Testing for honey fraud
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