Australian manufacturer Beechworth Honey has set up a taskforce to combat the global issue of honey adulteration.
Founder and director Jodie Goldsworthy said that, although cases like the 2013 European horse meat scandal normally garner the most attention, food categories like olive oil, milk and honey have the highest reported cases of food fraud.
Goldsworthy has been appointed as president of the Oceania Region of Apimondia, the Global Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, who have created a working group tasked with communicating the problem and taking steps to prevent adulteration.
"The primary focus in the food industry has been on food safety, but food defence is becoming an increasing concern," she said.
"Food commodities are becoming a target for fraudulent practice as some organisations look to gain financially by substituting key ingredients for cheaper alternatives."
In recent years there has been a global shortage of honey and honeybee products, with pests and diseases affecting bees.
As a result, a proliferation of fake honey has undercut global market prices.
The increase of adulterated honey entering the global market has also sparked concern among health officials, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has fined companies for importing products into Australia that claim to be 100 per cent bee honey when they were mainly made from modified corn syrup.
"The fake honey is made in a laboratory and is cheaper to produce than real honey from bees, and beekeepers say they can't compete on price," Goldsworthy said.
