The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) recently released results of an investigation it had conducted into the quality of honey being produced in India.
The investigation uncovered that nearly all brands of honey sold in India are adulterated with sugar syrups. CSE food researchers selected 13 brands of raw and processed honey, including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, and Zandu, and subjected them to tests that are required under the National Food Regulatory Laws to be labelled as honey.
The samples of these selected brands were first tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat. The CSE said that almost all brands passed the purity test while Apis Himalaya honey, Dadev honey, Hi honey, Societe Naturelle Honey failed the C4 sugar or basic adulteration using cane sugar. This test is required by Indian Law. However, same samples of these brands were tested using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance test at a German-based laboratory. NMR is being used globally to test modified sugar syrups. Almost all brands failed the NMR test except the three brands viz, Saffola, Markfed Sohna, and Nature’s Nectar. NMR test is not required by the Indian Law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.
Adulteration has become so sophisticated that there are products (adulterants) available to cheat the tests that Indian food testing labs conduct to measure the purity of honey.
On further investigation, it was revealed that Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and OkChem advertise fructose syrup. This means Chinese companies had sugar syrups that claimed to pass the C3/C4 tests. A few syrups also claim to pass honey adulteration tests namely TMR, SMR, Oligosaccharides & NMR. These syrups were being exported from China to India since 2016. A spike observed in the quantity imported in 2017-18. So, adulteration is difficult to catch. To curb such activities, the Government must take some strict actions.
Rampant adulteration of honey with sugar syrup is a big threat to the beekeepers as the honey produced by such beekeepers has competition against cheap, sugar-laden syrups bereft of the medicinal properties that honey has.
So, the question is how to check if your honey is pure or adulterated? Here is a quick and easy test suggested by FSSAI. Add a few drops into a glass of water if the honey disperses in the water it is adulterated and if it settles at the bottom it is not adulterated. After all, it is us the ultimate consumer, who needs to stay cautious of such adulterations and take care of our health.
