Two New Tests Have Been Developed To Detect Fake Honey, Which Is Often Adulterated With Sugar Syrups Or Cheap Additives
It is well known that fake honey, often cut with sugar syrups or cheap additives, has made its way into the market. There is a growing demand for honey, but the high value of the product makes it vulnerable to fraud.
A 2023 report from the European Commission found that 46 percent of 147 honey samples were likely to have been adulterated with cheap plant syrups.
Now, a team of researchers at Cranfield University in England has developed new methods of detecting sugar syrup adulteration in honey with speed and accuracy.
Since the characteristics of honey vary depending on geography, the season of harvest, and sources of nectar, it can be very challenging to detect fake products. Conventional testing strategies tend to be costly and time-consuming.
However, scientists have successfully come up with two new ways to test honey. One of the methods involved a special light analysis technique to find fake honey without even needing to open the jar.
They used the non-invasive Spatial Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) method to test samples of honey that were spiked with rice and sugar beet syrups.
SORS was originally developed at the Central Laser Facility in the United Kingdom’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It is more commonly used for pharmaceutical and security purposes.
When it came to honey, it detected sugar syrups with high accuracy by quickly identifying the “fingerprint” of each ingredient in the product.
The researchers combined this technique with machine learning, enabling the successful detection and identification of sugar syrups derived from various plants.
niknikp – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only – pictured above is glass jar full of honey, sitting on a piece of wood
Overall, the method is an ideal screening tool for testing honey because it can be easily implemented and portable, which makes it convenient.
“Honey is expensive and in demand—and can be targeted by fraudsters, which leaves genuine suppliers out of pocket and undermines consumers’ trust,” said Dr. Maria Anastasiadi, the lead author of the study.
“This method is an effective, quick tool to identify suspicious samples of honey, helping the industry to protect consumers and verify supply chains.”
The second method involved DNA barcoding to detect rice and corn syrups in honey samples. A total of 17 honey samples were collected from bee farmers around the U.K.
They were all from different seasons and nectar sources. Four of the samples were purchased from supermarkets and online retailers.
DNA barcoding was effective in breaking down the composition of each sample. It could even detect syrups at only a one percent adulteration level. The method has already been used to identify plant species in food products.
“To date, DNA methods haven’t been widely used to examine honey authenticity,” said Dr. Anastasiadi.
“But our study showed that this is a sensitive, reliable, and robust way to detect adulteration and confirm the origins of syrups added to the honey.”
The two newly developed methods can be employed in tandem to increase the chances of successfully detecting sugar adulteration in honey.
The details of the findings were published in Food Control.
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