Beekeepers: adulterated cheap honey remains a problem

The EU wants more certainty about the origin and purity of honey. However, beekeepers continue to observe major consumer deception. The natural product is often flavoured with sugar, reported dpa.

Adulterated honey with sometimes unclear indications of origin remains a major problem, according to the German Professional and Commercial Beekeepers' Association.

The professional association had samples of honey from German supermarkets analysed in the laboratory, Vice President Bernhard Heuvel told the Bild newspaper.

According to the report, 25 out of 30 samples were adulterated with cheap sugar syrup.

“The counterfeits behind the ever-lower sales prices are so sophisticated that they are almost impossible to detect even in the laboratory,” said Heuvel.

The aim now is to put a stop to organised honey counterfeiters.

“We have joined forces with importers and the food trade, and have called in the EU Commission, consumer protection, police and Europol.”

As the investigations are still ongoing, the adulterated honey brands cannot yet be published.

In future, the country of origin must be clearly recognisable

The problem has been known for some time and consumer protection organisations advise consumers to buy honey produced in Germany.

However, domestic honey only covers around 30 per cent of German demand. The rest is imported and comes from countries such as China, Turkey, Ukraine and Romania.

The European Union reacted at the beginning of the year. In future, the country of origin must be clearly labelled on packaging.

Previously, honey blends only had to state whether they came from the EU or not. In future, it must also be clear how much of the honey comes from each country.

However, there is a transitional period of around two years until the requirements are applied.

The consumer protection organisation Foodwatch had described the improved origin regulation as long overdue.

However, the rules were not enough to combat ‘honey cheating’. According to earlier statements by the Environment Committee in the EU Parliament, there should also be more border controls to combat counterfeit honey. The EU Commission announced that it wanted to introduce harmonised analysis methods to identify honey that has been diluted with sugar.