Half of the honey imported into the EU is suspected of being adulterated, in particular through the addition of sugar syrups, according to a survey by European authorities published on Thursday.
According to a survey by the research service of the European Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf), out of 320 samples checked in sixteen Member States, around 46% are strongly suspected of derogating from the rules of the European Union (EU ), much more than the 14% noted during the last study in 2015-1017.
The EU imports regarding 40% of its honey consumption. In detail, 74% of the 89 honeys originating from China were deemed suspect, like almost all of the honeys imported from Turkey (14 out of 15).
Adding sugar syrups to lower the price
The main fraudulent technique is the following: the addition of sugar syrups (rice, wheat or beetroot) to lower the price, but the report also mentioned the use of additives and colorings or the falsification of traceability information .
Olaf recalled that “honey naturally contains sugars and according to EU law it must remain pure: there can be no water or cheap sugar syrups artificially added to increase the volume”.
Out of 123 honey exporters to Europe, 70 are suspected of having adulterated their products, and out of 95 European importers checked, two-thirds are affected by at least one suspect batch. Nowadays, “44 operators in the EU were investigated and seven were sanctioned”says Olaf.
But Ukrainian, Mexican and Brazilian honeys were also singled out.
