As fake honey on the rise, new test promises to expose honey traps

Scientists in the UK have come up with a laser test to quickly comb out counterfeit honey, which has become ubiquitous across Europe over the past decade.

Usually used to test pharmaceuticals and in security screening, the "non-invasive" Spatial Offset Raman Spectroscopy sounds like the bee’s knees: It allows for jars to be checked for counterfeit honey - which usually entails rice, corn or sugar beet syrups being passed off as the real thing - without even twisting off the lid.

"This method is an effective, quick tool to identify suspicious samples of honey, helping the industry to protect consumers and verify supply chains," said Maria Anastasiadi, lecturer in bioinformatics at the UK's Cranfield University.

A European Commission report published last year found that half the 320 commercially available jars marketed as honey it tested were laden with sugar, up from the 14% found a similar study carried out in 2015.

In a statement published in early October by Copa Cogeca, the European farm lobby group, French beekeeper Yves Harmon warned the sector in Europe was "in crisis" due to a combination of factors, such as cheap imports from China and Ukraine and "a market flooded with adulterated honey."

Since the characteristics of honey vary greatly due to sources of nectar, season of harvest and geography, detecting adulterated products has been tricky, the study authors explain.

Researchers said they participated in a second study with Queen’s University Belfast and Britain Food Standards Agency in which they tested for fake honey using a DNA barcoding method, whereby the specemin is identified by analysing segments of DNA.

"To date, DNA methods haven’t been widely used to examine honey authenticity," said Anastasiadi. The second study, published in the journal Food Control, "showed that this is a sensitive, reliable and robust way to detect adulteration and confirm the origins of syrups added to the honey."

Recent years there have been multiple studies warning that shrinking bee populations worldwide could lead to a pollination and food production crisis.