I f you thought honey was the last pure thing left in your cupboard, think again. That sweet spoonful on your overnight oats might be hiding a sticky lie. Last month, DNA tests commissioned by the Honey Authenticity Network and conducted by Estonia’s Celvia laboratory found that more than 90 per cent of honey jars from major UK retailers were laced with cheap fillers like sugar syrups.
(By contrast, all five samples from local British beekeepers passed with flying colours.) For anyone feeling duped, it’s worth knowing the elaborate lengths that these imposters go to. So, what on earth is actually in so much of the honey we’re buying? For fraudsters , honey is a sweet deal.
The FSA told The Independent that while “there’s no evidence that any honey on sale in the UK is unsafe, it is a product that can be at risk of fraud”. Products with premium labels or complex supply chains are particularly attractive to fraudsters. Syrups made from rice, beetroot or other cheap crops are whisked in to bulk up honey on the cheap.
These fillers look and pour like honey but lack the flavour, nutrients and unique enzymes that make the real stuff a natural, healthy delight. It’s like buying wine and getting grape juice. “Honey is a high-value foodstuff and there are increasingly sophisticated methods to adulterate it to avoid detection,” the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) says.
With real honey priced at around $3,000 (£2,370) per tonne globally, compared to $500 per ton.
