FoodQS – the world’s first laboratory for honey testing, with 25 years of history and over 10.000 analyses/year – intervenes with an official statement, to demolish the fake news about ‘adulterated honey’. (1)
The viral hoax about the hypothetical adulteration of most of the honey distributed in four European countries in fact derives from the ‘authenticity tests’ conducted by an Estonian start-up, with an analysis method that is also unreliable. (2)
1) ‘Adulterated honey’, the false alarms
EPBA (European Professional Beekeepers Association) – at its annual conference in Friedrichshafen, Germany, on November 8, 2024 – hosted the Estonian start-up Celvia.
Celvia presented the results of tests carried out on some honey samples by analyzing the DNA of the pollen traces remaining in them and comparing them with a tiny database:
– Germany. Of 30 anonymous samples, including 1 authentic honey, as a positive control, 25 samples would have revealed DNA profiles not compatible with the micro-database. 80% of the samples were therefore classified as ‘adulterated or fake honey’;
– Finland. Of 56 labeled products from supermarkets, the experimental test identified ‘DNA profiles not typical for honey’ in 35 samples. 62,5% of the samples were thus declared to be ‘adulterated or fake’;
– UK. Experimental tests on 30 anonymous samples, including 5 control honeys (certainly authentic), would have shown 23 non-compliant samples. 96% of honey in the UK was thus declared ‘adulterated or fake’; (2)
– Austria. Of 30 anonymous samples, including 5 control honeys (certainly authentic), 25 samples would have shown ‘DNA profiles not typical for honey’. 100% of the honey on the Austrian market would therefore be ‘adulterated or fake’.
2) FoodQS demolishes fake news
The German laboratory FoodQS – which boasts an unprecedented experience in the analysis of honey marketed in Europe, 10.000 samples/year – demolishes the fake news spread by the start-up Celvia and its clients, noting the following:
– the sample used for the analysis on the German market, 30 jars of honey, is certainly not representative of the products available in the first European country for honey imports and consumption in Europe. (3) Sensationalist statements such as ‘In Germany 80% of honey is fake’ are therefore a lie;
– the database used by the Estonian laboratory (500 honeys, of which more than half come from Estonia alone, whose area is approximately 1/333.333 that of the top five honey exporting countries in the EU, ed.) is in no way representative of the extreme variety of honeys distributed internationally, and of their blends;
– the analysis method used by Celvia (DNA analysis of pollen residues contained in honey and their comparison with the limited database mentioned above) is not supported by the information necessary for its validation, accreditation and scientific evaluation;
– the suitability and effectiveness of the method in detecting the authenticity of honey lacks the essential data (i.e. tests on honey adulterated with sugar syrup from C4 and C3 plants) on the basis of which the standard analysis methods have been validated;
– scientific evidence on the suitability of the identified criteria (DNA profile, quantity or quality) to draw clear conclusions on the hypothetical adulteration of honey is also lacking;
– claims that ‘adulterated honey’ can be recognized by the taste of the sample alone are false and unreliable.
3) Unacceptable damage to the honey supply chain
‘The unscientific approach shown here [by the Estonian start-up, ed.] discredits the long, intensive and elaborate work of accredited honey analysis service laboratories’. And the smear campaign against the entire honey supply chain is ‘extremely critical and damaging to consumers and all companies/institutions involved‘, underlines FoodQS.
All the more unacceptable is this behaviour by Celvia as it has received public funds – under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development – to start testing a method of analysis that will have to follow the path of validation, accreditation, standardisation, harmonisation and verification.
Research objective co-financed by the Common Agricultural Policy is to develop solutions useful for the development of the entire supply chain and to increase citizens’ trust in the system. The exact opposite of what has been achieved by this beneficiary of public funding who instead carries out a viral deception to the detriment of all.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) FoodQS GmbH food analytics & quality control. Statement on the press release of the European Professional Beekeepers Association and the German Professional and Commercial Beekeepers Association. 10.10.24 https://tinyurl.com/yr3kbufc
(2) Dario Dongo. Honey Authenticity, Mainstream Disinformation. FT (Food Times). 10.11.24
(3) What is the demand for honey on the European market? CBI (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs). April 10, 2024 https://tinyurl.com/4ey9z3x8
(4) Authentic honey meets DNA technology. The EU CAP Network https://tinyurl.com/j6hadwmk
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
