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Innovative methods for fraud detection in honey

As consumer demand for natural sweeteners like honey continues to increase, so too do instances of fraud or fraud attempts by dishonest suppliers. In Europe, for instance, the European-Commission–led initiative “From the Hives” confirmed that a significant percentage of imported honey products do not comply with EU purity benchmarks. To protect consumers and legitimate domestic producers, Eurofins companies have developed a suite of state-of-the-art authentication methods to distinguish syrup-based alternatives from genuine honey.

Honey is widely regarded as one of the most adulterated foods in the world and testing to determine its authenticity is therefore extremely important. Authorities across the globe are facing rising fraud attempts, this can be seen in New Zealand through the first “fake Manuka honey” prosecution trial in 2019, or the action of the European Union to launch its “From the Hives” initiative in 2021, to assess the prevalence of honey adulterated with sugars on the EU market.

The composition and characteristics of honeys are subject to broad variation due to the numerous honey varieties and origins worldwide. This makes the reliable and decisive detection of possible fraudulent sugar syrup addition particularly difficult. In addition, fraudsters continue to push limits, and refined syrups, which often perfectly mimic honey composition, are also added by producers. These factors mean that particularly sensitive and reliable complementary testing methods are required to protect brands and customers. Eurofins has established the most advanced and reliable testing method for honey authenticity.

In 2018, Eurofins Food Integrity Control Services GmbH was the first laboratory worldwide to offer authenticity analysis of honey by liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) as an ISO 17025 accredited method. The method enables the detection of known as well as unknown honey adulterants (targeted and untargeted analysis) as part of just one analytical test and has a significantly higher sensitivity for foreign sugar adulterants compared to previously established honey authenticity testing methods. The method combines a number of single detection methods that test for specific additives or adulterations into one multi-method which can simultaneously detect different types of sugar syrups used for adulteration, making testing more efficient and cost-effective. The Eurofins LC-HRMS method builds on the Group’s established reputation as a leader in authenticity testing for honey.

In 2014, the Eurofins Laboratory in Nantes had already pioneered a new analytical approach to test honey integrity. Developed as part of a collaborative research project, this holistic method, which uses high resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), provides a wide range of information that is both targeted (quantification of defined substances) and non-targeted (identifying deviations from reference spectra). It can simultaneously detect the addition of sugars from any source, or other irregularities in the honey, such as excessive heat treatment or fermentation, and also confirm the botanical and geographical origin, independently from conventional pollen microscope analysis. An example of such advanced origin control is the control of Manuka honey authenticity by NMR. Eurofins' optimal offer for honey is a combination of these advanced methods with essential conventional ones such as pollen microscopic analysis.

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