Rick Mumford, Head of the Science, Evidence and Research directorate explores the honey supply chain, the unique issues that can put it at risk of food fraud, and the work done by the FSA and local authority partners to ensure the authenticity of honey from beehive to jar.
Honey is a natural complex mixture of different sugars produced entirely by bees, with nothing added or taken away. It’s on breakfast tables across the country, ready to be stirred into porridge or poured onto yogurt - but how do you know that the honey you’re putting on your toast is what it says it is?
There are strict laws in place which set high standards for the composition and labelling of honey products on sale in the UK. Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of food law and the FSA issues advice to ensure consistency in approach across the country.
The risk of honey fraud
While there is no evidence that any honey on sale in the UK is unsafe, it is a product that can be at risk of fraud. Products which declare a premium status, have a high price by weight, have complex supply chains or are subject to a spike in demand, can be particularly vulnerable to fraudsters.
Some honey products will fall into one or more of these categories. This may be due to their global supply chains or the premium status of high-value products such as manuka honey.
Testing the authenticity of honey
With such a vast array of honey products available to consumers, no single test can definitively determine a product’s authenticity. However, there are a wide range of analytical methods that can be applied to honey to check its composition. This can be from well-established official methods to more recently developed advanced ‘fingerprinting’ tools such as those using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).
Detecting certain types of adulteration such as the addition of cane or beet sugars is challenging. This is especially true for beet sugar addition because bees generally forage on plants that use the same photosynthetic pathway as beet sugars. This makes it difficult for traditional tests based on isotopic differences to work.
This is where NMR can be helpful as a sophisticated analytical chemistry tool which can be used to provide a detailed chemical profile of a food. This profile is akin to a ‘chemical fingerprint’, specific to the sample, that has been tested and which can then be compared with the fingerprint from other sample results. This will allow us to see if they are consistent.
Honey traceability from beehive to jar
However, interpretation of results depends on comparison against a reference database of authenticated samples, such as ones of known, verifiable origin and type.
To ensure it is robust, the reference database needs to be representative of the variation that can occur in a product such as honey. This includes differing beekeeping practices, different origins, seasonality and variations in climate. This should ideally be publicly available or available for scrutiny by all.
Because this is not always the case, the FSA recommends that local authorities do not take enforcement action on the basis of NMR results alone. Instead they should apply a weight of evidence approach.
This approach includes gathering information on product traceability – from beehive to jar – and results from any other testing that has been undertaken. This can also involve carrying out follow-up discussions with the relevant business.
Better understanding the honey supply chain
We are working with partners across government to improve understanding and knowledge of honey testing methods and the honey supply chain amongst stakeholders.
Together with Defra we are exploring approaches which will provide additional assurance for testing methods such as NMR which rely on underpinning databases. We will also be supporting further work on guidance for applying a weight of evidence approach.
As always, consumers are at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is to maintain consumer confidence, reassure businesses involved in honey supply chains and reduce any risk of food fraud.
We are continuing to work together with the honey industry to ensure that the honey you enjoy is safe, authentic and what it says it is.
O’r cwch gwenyn i’r jar – esbonio dilysrwydd mêl
Mae Rick Mumford, Pennaeth y Gyfarwyddiaeth Gwyddoniaeth, Tystiolaeth ac Ymchwil yn archwilio’r gadwyn gyflenwi mêl, y materion unigryw a all ei roi mewn perygl o dwyll bwyd, a’r gwaith sydd wedi’i wneud gan yr Asiantaeth Safonau Bwyd a phartneriaid awdurdodau lleol i sicrhau dilysrwydd mêl o’r cwch gwenyn i’r jar.
Mae ar fyrddau brecwast ledled y wlad, yn barod i’w gymysgu mewn uwd neu ei dywallt ar iogwrt. Ond sut ydych chi'n gwybod bod y mêl rydych chi'n ei roi ar eich tost yn cyd-fynd â’r hyn sydd ar y label?
Mae mêl yn gymysgedd cymhleth naturiol o wahanol siwgrau sy'n cael eu cynhyrchu'n gyfan gwbl gan wenyn heb unrhyw beth yn cael ei ychwanegu na'i dynnu oddi wrtho. Mae deddfau llym ar waith sy'n gosod safonau uchel ar gyfer cyfansoddiad a labelu cynhyrchion mêl sydd ar werth yn y Deyrnas Unedig (DU). Mae awdurdodau lleol yn gyfrifol am orfodi cyfraith bwyd ac mae'r Asiantaeth Safonau Bwyd (ASB) yn cyhoeddi cyngor i sicrhau cysondeb o ran dull gweithredu ledled y wlad.
Y perygl o dwyll mêl
Er nad oes tystiolaeth bod unrhyw fêl sydd ar werth yn y DU yn anniogel, mae'n gynnyrch a all fod mewn perygl o dwyll. Gall cynhyrchion sy'n datgan statws premiwm, sydd â phris uchel yn ôl pwysau, sydd â chadwyni cyflenwi cymhleth neu sy'n destun cynnydd yn y galw, fod yn arbennig o agored i dwyllwyr. Bydd rhai cynhyrchion mêl yn dod o dan un neu fwy o'r categorïau hyn, oherwydd eu cadwyni cyflenwi byd-eang neu statws premiwm cynhyrchion gwerth uchel fel mêl manuka.
Gydag amrywiaeth mor helaeth o gynhyrchion mêl ar gael i ddefnyddwyr, ni all unrhyw brawf unigol bennu dilysrwydd cynnyrch yn ddiffiniol. Mae yna ystod eang o ddulliau dadansoddi y gellir eu defnyddio ar gyfer mêl i wirio ei gyfansoddiad, o ddulliau swyddogol sefydledig i offer ‘olrhain olion bysedd’ datblygedig a grëwyd yn fwy diweddar fel y rhai sy'n defnyddio sbectrosgopeg cyseiniant magnetig niwclear (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) (NMR).
Profi dilysrwydd mêl
Mae canfod rhai mathau o ddifwyno (adulteration) fel ychwanegu siwgrau cansen neu fetys yn heriol. Mae hyn yn arbennig o wir ar gyfer ychwanegu siwgr betys oherwydd bod y gwenyn yn gyffredinol yn chwilota am blanhigion sy'n defnyddio'r un llwybr ffotosynthetig â siwgrau betys, gan ei gwneud hi'n anodd i brofion traddodiadol sy'n seiliedig ar wahaniaethau isotopig weithio. Dyma lle gall NMR fod o gymorth fel adnodd cemeg dadansoddol soffistigedig y gellir ei ddefnyddio i ddarparu proffil cemegol manwl o fwyd. Mae'r proffil hwn yn debyg i ‘ôl-bys cemegol’, sy'n benodol i'r sampl sydd wedi'i phrofi ac y gellir ei gymharu ag olion bysedd o ganlyniadau sampl eraill, i weld a ydynt yn gyson.
Olrhain mêl o’r cwch gwenyn i’r jar
Fodd bynnag, mae dehongli canlyniadau yn dibynnu ar y gymhariaeth yn erbyn cronfa ddata gyfeirio o samplau wedi'u dilysu (hynny yw, rhai o darddiad a math hysbys y gellir eu dilysu). Er mwyn sicrhau bod y gronfa ddata gyfeirio yn gadarn, mae angen iddi fod yn gynrychioliadol o'r amrywiad a all ddigwydd mewn cynnyrch fel mêl, gan gynnwys gwahanol arferion cadw gwenyn, tarddiad, natur dymhorol a hinsawdd ac yn ddelfrydol dylai fod ar gael i'r cyhoedd neu ar gael i bawb at ddibenion craffu. Gan nad yw hyn yn wir bob amser, mae'r ASB yn argymell na ddylai awdurdodau lleol gymryd camau gorfodi ar sail canlyniadau NMR yn unig, ac yn lle hynny dylent ddefnyddio dull seiliedig ar lefel y dystiolaeth. Mae'r dull hwn yn cynnwys casglu gwybodaeth olrhain y cynnyrch – o’r cwch gwenyn i’r jar – a chanlyniadau unrhyw brofion eraill a gynhaliwyd, ynghyd â chynnal trafodaethau dilynol gyda'r busnes perthnasol.
Deall y gadwyn gyflenwi mêl yn well
Rydym ni’n gweithio gyda phartneriaid ar draws y llywodraeth i wella dealltwriaeth a gwybodaeth am ddulliau profi mêl a'r gadwyn gyflenwi mêl ymhlith rhanddeiliaid. Ynghyd ag Adran yr Amgylchedd, Bwyd a Materion Gwledig (Defra) rydym ni’n archwilio dulliau a fydd yn rhoi sicrwydd ychwanegol ar gyfer dulliau profi fel NMR sy'n dibynnu ar gronfeydd data sylfaenol. Byddwn ni hefyd yn cefnogi gwaith pellach ar ganllawiau ar gyfer defnyddio dull lefel y dystiolaeth.
Fel gyda phopeth arall, defnyddwyr sydd wrth wraidd popeth a wnawn. Ein nod yw cynnal hyder defnyddwyr, rhoi sicrwydd i fusnesau sy'n ymwneud â chadwyni cyflenwi mêl a lleihau unrhyw risg o dwyll bwyd. Rydym ni’n parhau i weithio gyda'r diwydiant mêl i sicrhau bod y mêl rydych chi'n ei fwynhau yn ddiogel, yn ddilys ac yn cyd-fynd â’r hyn sydd ar y label.
2 comments
Comment by F Berron posted on
To say "While there is no evidence that any honey on sale in the UK is unsafe" is wrong: a diabetic, based on recommendations of NHS to ingest honey in winter, purchases a jar of "honey" but instead ingests a jar of syrup as fake as detected in Tesco by Richmond Trade Standards. The diabetic person will have a brutal glucose spike. And the jar still 14 spoonfuls to cheat and hurt.
Comment by F Berron posted on
Indeed, no single test can ensure honey authenticity, but it is certainly easy to ensure it when combining a wide array of analytical methods. The "complexity narrative" is misinformation to pour smoke to the issue. Plants, flowers, bees, leave enough traces in honey. The practice of a single authenticity analysis is key to commit fraud. A C3 syrup (rice, beet, potato, yucca, wheat) blended with unripe nectar passes the Isotopic Difference Analysis but not the Purity Criteria defined in the Method Description itself. This makes the database of the method far more limited than the NMR, and even wrong.