Thread: UK researchers find new methods to solve sticky issue of “honey laundering”

Chinese exporters are suspected of flooding the market with cheap and blended honey products which could harm people’s health.


Honey is a pantry staple in many homes around the world, with a global market size of US$9 billion and growing.


But what consumers may not know is that the honey they have in their kitchens could be mixed with cheap sugar syrups and other additives. This helps lower the costs of producing each jar.

Concerns remain over imported honey – particularly from China, the world's largest producer – being tainted in this manner.


Researchers trying to uncover adulterated honey have also struggled with doing so. But now, the sticky problem of “honey laundering”, as it is sometimes referred to, may have some new solutions.


POTENTIAL HEALTH PROBLEMS


China produces about a quarter of the world’s honey, followed by Turkey, Iran and India.


However, Chinese exporters are also suspected of flooding the market with cheap and blended products which could harm people’s health.


Research – conducted largely on animals like rats, chickens, and fish – found that they suffered higher levels of blood sugar as well as more liver and kidney damage than those fed unadulterated honey over a long period.


Pure honey also retains more of the natural antibacterial properties, along with a greater proportion of nutrients like proteins, antioxidants and minerals.


“When you go into a supermarket and you look along a shelf of honey, the colour is pretty uniform. The honey packers mix their honeys to create this uniform-looking thing that tastes similar,” said Helen Rogers from Highgate Honey, a small family-run honey business in London.


She noted that honey packers in the United Kingdom are “very often” not beekeepers. They choose to import honey before putting their brand label on it.


“(This means) a lot of the supermarkets won’t know what’s in those jars,” Rogers added.


Her company keeps bee hives all around North London. She told CNA that the different colours of honey from these hives represent different types of flowers that the honeybees were foraging on.


However, it remains tough to figure out whether honey is real or not.


POSSIBLE SWEET SPOT IN RESEARCH


On the bright side, researchers from Cranfield University in the UK may have just found the sweet spot.


This year, they made a scientific breakthrough and vastly improved the way honey can be tested.


The first method reduces runny honey into a mass of plant DNA, allowing scientists to look for signs of plant sugars that should not be there.

“Corn syrup, especially high-fructose corn syrup and things like that, is very cheap and we think it could be used to adulterate honey. It looks very similar (to honey),” said research student Sophie Dodd from the university’s Centre for Soil Agrifood and Biosciences.


“And then rice syrup may be used in potentially Asian countries where rice is grown more commonly. So these are the top two syrups.”


A variant of that test goes even further by revealing the honey’s full profile of plant DNA, and in what proportions.


This reveals if genuine and premium honey – perhaps from a renowned region – has been mixed with another cheaper kind of honey.


Meanwhile, the final test relies on the fact that all honeys will be slightly different depending on what nectar the bees ate, in what season, and in which locale.


A laser analyses the honey and produces a unique chemical fingerprint.

By doing these tests, the team can create a database of what pure and adulterated honeys look like.


“And then by introducing machine learning algorithms, we can create predictive models that can give us an answer regarding the purity of the sample and also they can identify the specific type of syrup used for adulterating the honey,” said bioinformatics lecturer Maria Anastsiadi, who is part of the team.


The new research methods come as countries across Europe have been demanding stronger checks to make sure imported honeys are authentic.


With techniques like those developed here at Cranfield, detecting "honey laundering" could become a lot easier.

UK researchers find new methods to solve sticky issue of ‘honey laundering’ - CNA

There are so many Chinese food imports in Thailand now, I have to get out my Google Translate to read the labels. I was eating spinach and berries imported from China for months without realizing it. No telling what kind of pesticides they use.

Luckily, I’ve a raw honey source who keeps me in the good stuff.

Chinky bastards at it again.

Originally Posted by misskit

a raw honey source

I've combed the hives hoping to be targetted by a honey trap without suck cease sofa.

No money. No honey. Nothing changes really
That's the bottom line i guess.

Originally Posted by misskit

I was eating spinach and berries imported from China for months without realizing it. No telling what kind of pesticides they use.

Yeah, the US does so much better with the pesticides n that



3. Industrial Accidents — Agricultural Industry | FEMA.gov

I have frozen berries pretty much year round. I eat them with porridge.

They're from China.

I definitely do not feel any more worried than I would if they were from anywhere else in the world.

In fact, I'm probably less worried.

It isn't far away.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Yeah, the US does so much better with the pesticides n that

It was ever thus:

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Originally Posted by cyrille

Yeah, the US does so much better with the pesticides n that



3. Industrial Accidents — Agricultural Industry | FEMA.gov

I have frozen berries pretty much year round. I eat them with porridge.

They're from China.

I definitely do not feel any more worried than I would if they were from anywhere else in the world.

In fact, I'm probably less worried.

It isn't far away.

Dude, you are very very wrong here. It will be difficult for you to acknowledge but food safety and pesticide use is by far better controlled in the US and the West in general.


Food safety incidents in China - Wikipedia

Many scholarly articles exist about overuse and misuse of pesticide in China. So many. Here is one.

Overuse of fertilizers and pesticides in China linked to farm size | Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Coincidentally a new example of Chinese “food safety.”

China turns sour on popular ‘wax bottle candy’ as food safety concerns bite

China is cracking down on “wax bottle candy”, a popular snack among children that is also sold abroad, over food safety concerns.


Known for their chewy texture and colourful appearance, the candies – known colloquially as “la ping tang” – are made from beeswax and contain syrup. They’ve seen a recent surge in popularity, driven by influencers showcasing the snack.

But a lack of proper labels such as production dates, quality certificates and manufacturer details has been ringing alarm bells among food safety authorities.


At least six Chinese provinces, including Gansu, Hubei and Sichuan, are cracking down on the popular treat, according to local news outlets, conducting spot checks on businesses and confiscating non-compliant products. Reports did not indicate when such measures began.


In Yuzhong county in Gansu province, officials inspected 68 businesses around schools over the weekend. More than half were ordered to remove the candies from their shelves and close to 100 boxes of the treats were confiscated, local news site China Daily reported.


Other cities have issued health warnings to consumers, stating that while the beeswax used in making the candies is not toxic, some manufacturers have been found to use inferior or industrial wax which poses potential health risks.


The sweet treats are meant to be chewed to release and savour the syrup within, rather than swallowed whole.

The Chinese-made snacks have also been raising eyebrows in other places.


Food regulators in Taiwan launched an investigation in mid-September over safety concerns. The island’s health ministry issued a warning last week, stating that products remain illegal because import approvals have not been granted.


Thai authorities took similar action last December, warning people against buying and consuming the wax candies and instructing online shopping platforms to stop sales.


Checks by CNA found listings on e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee, which were still offering delivery to Singapore. Prices averaged around S$3 (US$2.30) for 30 pieces.


Food safety is a recurring issue across China despite the government’s attempts to stamp it out.


Last month, Chinese authorities began investigating the local production of goji berries following a state news report which revealed harmful chemicals were being used by local merchants to retain the crop’s bright red colour.

In July, a scandal erupted after news reports revealed that tanker trucks were used to transport cooking oil and chemicals, without being cleaned between loads, in order to save money.

China turns sour on popular ‘wax bottle candy’ as food safety concerns bite - CNA



The line about the goji berries being dyed to give them red color sets off alarms for me for those super sized beautiful Makro berries I had been using for smoothies.

Originally Posted by cyrille

In fact, I'm probably less worried.

.

Do your research, Cy....you should be very worried. I myself refuse to eat anything at all grown in China.

Originally Posted by misskit

Luckily, I’ve a raw honey source who keeps me in the good stuff.

Looking into this, it seems that Thailand exports honey to China, rather than the other way around.

It is the UK that needs to worry, after Japan the UK is China's second largest export market for honey.

Honey in China | The Observatory of Economic Complexity

We found unhealthy pesticide levels in 20% of US produce – here’s what you need to know | Pesticides | The Guardian

Some of you are as deluded as the Chinese.

There's stuff to avoid from everywhere.

Loads of the English labels are obscured by Thai labels, which I suppose is fair enough.

Just have to hope your luck's in, wherever the product is from.

Learning Thai script would help, maybe.

Who needs honey with Single Malt for 1700 or Yad Dong for 50 to take the edge orf?

This research from Cranfield University is a big step forward in solving the problem of "honey laundering." The new testing methods can spot fake honey by checking its plant DNA and using lasers to create unique chemical profiles. This will help make sure consumers get real honey, especially with worries about cheaper imports. And if you love desserts, don’t forget to check out the top 5 sweet shops in London for some tasty treats!