Make sure you buy real honey and support local beekeepers and bee farmers!
A recent study has shown that fake honey (also adulterated honey) is being sold in Europe – a very big problem for consumers and beekeepers. This ‘honey laundering’ is costing honest beekeepers and bee farmers their livelihoods.
The European Commission’s Anti-Fraud Office and the Joint Research Centre published the report. It shows beekeepers must compete with fraudulently produced cheap products sold as honey. These consist partly or fully of cheap sugar syrup.
According to the study, 46 per cent of all honey sampled was adulterated and non-compliant with the EU honey directive. Most fake honey came from Turkey (93 per cent) and China (74 per cent). Backing the study is Swienty, a leading apiary equipment supplier.
Health benefits of real honey vs fake honey
Real honey is a complex product. Collected by honeybees, it consists of fructose, glucose, sucrose, disaccharides, melecitose, erlose, oligosaccharides, water, minerals, enzymes, pollen, amino acids and proteins. Importantly, bees visit crops and flowers to ensure well-pollinated fruits and vegetables and general biodiversity. None of this happens and there are no health benefits with corn or sugar syrup!
In order to combat this fraudulent business, groups of beekeepers and other organisations want action. Selling fake honey or adulterated honey is a criminal activity driving honest beekeepers out of business.
When you buy supermarket honey packed by a big honey factory, you often cannot see the origin on the label. Labelling requirements only require very vague claims of origin, such as “Blend of honey from EU and non-EU” or “EU-origin”. Of course, it’s difficult to add every beekeeper or country on a honey blend label. This is not necessarily bad honey.
Lowering the price by adulterating honey
If you care about beekeepers and bee farmers and the true health benefits of real honey, read the label! Support local beekeepers and don’t buy cheap fake honey made from sugar syrup. How do you know it’s pure honey if you don’t know the beekeeper?
Buy our real Northumbrian Heather Honey, Northumbrian Blossom Honey and Borage Honey at our online shop or from our stockists.
For more information on the report, visit here. On social media, look for the hashtags #HoneYstLabellingNow and #honeylaundering.