SA scientists create ‘honey fingerprint’ test to stop fraud
Unscrupulous overseas producers are known to save costs by diluting their product with watered-down honey or sugar
Stellenbosch University researchers have caused a buzz in the bee world: they’ve found a way to combat "honey fraud". Unscrupulous overseas producers are known to save costs by diluting their product with watered-down honey or sugar. Consumers there are being misled and local producers are unable to compete with the low pricing of adulterated honeys. This has not been detected in SA‚ said Prof Marena Manley, of the university’s department of food science. Present methods of testing honey for quality‚ origin and trace amounts of sugar were expensive, Manley said. "There was therefore a need for a fast‚ non-destructive‚ easy-to-use and low-cost classification method to detect if there is adulteration in South African honey‚" she said. The research team decided to use near-infrared spectroscopy. The technique has been used to determine the geographic or botanical origin of honey. A portable machine‚ which could be used at a retailer or honey farm‚ is able to perform the tests. The tech...
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