The system of testing honey for adulteration is in the spotlight as blended honey products made from local and imported sources are under investigation for purity.
Australian honey giant, Capilano has voiced criticism of the test results using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and has expressed full confidence that its Allowrie honey brand contains only pure honey.
In light of the inconsistent test results, Capilano is also calling on the industry “to prove up the NMR test so that it matches the robustness of results from other testing currently relied on internationally.”
The heart of discussions involves testing methods. Australia officially uses the C4 sugar test which is said to be the test used by international regulatory authorities.
Concerned that cheap imported honey is hurting the local industry, horticulturalist Robert Costa commissioned a law firm to conduct two types of sampling tests on honey.
One detection test for impurities used NMR fromGermany’s Quality Services International (QSI) lab. Other tests used the official C4 sugar test.
A joint investigation by Fairfax Media and the ABC’s 7.30 into the honey industry reported the results from the collected 28 blended and imported honey samples from supermarket stores around Australia.
Testing found almost half the samples selected from supermarket shelves was “adulterated”, meaning it had been mixed with other substances, including reportedly Capilano’s Allowrie branded Mixed Blossom Honey, sourced from Australia and overseas honey.
The adulterated samples were all products that blend local and imported honey.
“It is essential for consumers to have confidence in that they are buying 100 per cent honey. We cannot have one test saying one thing and another saying honey is 100 per cent pure. That is where we find ourselves today,” says Dr Ben McKee, managing director of Capilano Honey Limited, packer of the Allowrie honey brand.
