Honey authenticity (again)

[ericbeaumont]

Similar story: 24 of 25 UK retailers sell suspicious honey. https://www.theguardian.com/food/20...fail-authenticity-test?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[Dodge]

Has the Aston University project posted any results yet from their current project to detect fake / adulyerated honey.

 

[Murox]

Well it caused a stir up here, my wife sent me the link about it and a niece who works for *esco was amazed by the revelation!

 

[Newbeeneil]

This is quite shocking that the UK has its own grade of fake honey because it’s known we don’t test!

 

[ericbeaumont]

Fake honey is only one part of the story and we're lucky that it hasn't yet been found to have the fingerprints of organised crime.

I tell customers that honey is more than a food, that it is a geo-political asset and that we must consider all food as such and buy accordingly.

The recent £300k cheese heist is the latest in global fraud involving organised crime.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmz42pjpnjo

"Conflicts around the world, the cost-of-living crisis, even climate change, all increase the appeal for food fraud,” says the NFCU’s Andy Quinn. Until that changes, cheesemakers might need to tighten up their security – and think twice when an order seems too good to be true".

For cheese, read honey.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fake honey is only one part of the story and we're lucky that it hasn't yet been found to have the fingerprints of organised crime.

I tell customers that honey is more than a food, that it is a geo-political asset and that we must consider all food as such and buy accordingly.

The recent £300k cheese heist is the latest in global fraud involving organised crime.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmz42pjpnjo

"Conflicts around the world, the cost-of-living crisis, even climate change, all increase the appeal for food fraud,” says the NFCU’s Andy Quinn. Until that changes, cheesemakers might need to tighten up their security – and think twice when an order seems too good to be true".

For cheese, read honey.

I get WhatsApp messages from individuals asking to handle my honey.

 

[boywonder]

This is quite shocking that the UK has its own grade of fake honey because it’s known we don’t test!

Thanks for sharing. There obviously have been other and more professional exposés (e.g. Netflix's Rotten Honey), but thanks to Peter and others for that video. It's probably the first thing I've seen which unequivocally debunks the myth that any UK supermarket honey which is a "blend of EU and non-EU honeys," (i.e. almost all items on the shelf) is actually real honey. Jesus wept.

Money, money, money, rather than honey, honey, honey.

I'd love Panorama to get their teeth into this. It might help bring it home to the UK consumer.

 

[Dodge]

Thanks for sharing. There obviously have been other and more professional exposés (e.g. Netflix's Rotten Honey), but thanks to Peter and others for that video. It's probably the first thing I've seen which unequivocally debunks the myth that any UK supermarket honey which is a "blend of EU and non-EU honeys," (i.e. almost all items on the shelf) is actually real honey. Jesus wept.

Money, money, money, rather than honey, honey, honey.

I'd love Panorama to get their teeth into this. It might help bring it home to the UK consumer.

Yes Panorama would be great for this.

Big problem I have felt for years is that local authorities having responsibility for trading standard etc doesn't work. A national system would surely have more teeth and also a budget large enough to be able to check supermarkets produce and enforce it. It would also make interpretations in Raw etc more consistent across the nation too

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks for sharing. There obviously have been other and more professional exposés (e.g. Netflix's Rotten Honey), but thanks to Peter and others for that video. It's probably the first thing I've seen which unequivocally debunks the myth that any UK supermarket honey which is a "blend of EU and non-EU honeys," (i.e. almost all items on the shelf) is actually real honey. Jesus wept.

Money, money, money, rather than honey, honey, honey.

I'd love Panorama to get their teeth into this. It might help bring it home to the UK consumer.

Us/we beekeepers fret repeatedly (quite rightly) about real vs fake honey but honestly a huge sector of the consumers don't care. I wonder what the sales data of cheap/dear honey going off supermarket shelves reveals?

 

[JamezF]

Us/we beekeepers fret repeatedly (quite rightly) about real vs fake honey but honestly a huge sector of the consumers don't care.

They might do, if they knew they were effectively buying Golden Syrup at twice the price or more.

James

 

[Gilberdyke John]

They might do, if they knew they were effectively buying Golden Syrup at twice the price or more.

James

As Esther Rantzen would say - "that's life!"

 

[Aneebe]

Us/we beekeepers fret repeatedly (quite rightly) about real vs fake honey but honestly a huge sector of the consumers don't care. I wonder what the sales data of cheap/dear honey going off supermarket shelves reveals?

Confession. Until I started keeping bees, I bought supermarket stuff so accepted the taste and smell as genuine. I "didn't care" as In my head then, a jar should cost say £1.50 and it tasted like honey or so I thought.
A few generations have moved away from "the farm" and the vast majority of us are now townies. It's always fascinating to watch the expressions as I let neighbours/ new customers have their first taste of genuine honey. That said, a lot of folk find it hard to spend £6 for a jar of my real honey yet they will blithely frequent coffee shops and will spend nearly a fiver on a posh coffee. Strange.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

They might do, if they knew they were effectively buying Golden Syrup at twice the price or more.

James

An old workmate of my mother buys loads of honey off her (Mam acts as my agent and always has a stack of honey in her cupboard for her 'customers') as her daughter only uses real honey as a sweetener. Her husband however still insists on her buying cheap supermarket honey for him as he prefers the taste - even though he's been educated and fully aware that the stuff he eats is probably more Tate and Lyle than Apis mellifera. So the fact that the great unwashed know their honey is fake would probably make no difference

 

[JamezF]

So the fact that the great unwashed know their honey is fake would probably make no difference

It's more the fact that they were being ripped off that I thought might distress them.

James