Honey currently available in stores does not always contain honey produced in the same natural way, with multiple reports indicating that in many cases, it consists entirely or partially of syrup, mainly from Asian rice production. According to Skånska Dagbladet, Yngve Kihlberg of Biodlingsföretagarna described virtually all honey imported to Sweden as adulterated, and several revelations in recent years have shown that honey is diluted with various sugar solutions. The organization Biodlingsföretagarna was able to demonstrate honey adulteration with syrup a year ago using DNA analysis, which is performed by a laboratory in Estonia where results are compared to a database of genuine honey samples, including from Swedish beekeepers.
According to TV4 Nyheterna, Yngve Kihlberg described testing 40 different types of honey purchased in Swedish grocery retail, with four being Swedish and 36 imported, and all imported honey in the test were deemed non-genuine by the laboratory. Honey is essentially like a living organism containing DNA from many different components: plants, insects, bacteria, fungi – even DNA from humans and pets. The method of DNA-tracing honey has now received a certification, and Biodlingsföretagarna hopes this will mean wider dissemination, with Kihlberg adding that it is only a matter of time before authorities adopt and can start using the DNA-tracing method.
We tested 40 different types of honey that we bought in Swedish grocery retail. Four were Swedish and 36 were imported. All the imported ones were deemed non-genuine by the laboratory. There was a little honey in all of them, but they also contained something else.
For Biodlingsföretagarna, this is something of a fateful issue because they believe it has become too difficult for European beekeepers to compete with fake honey, which is flowing in, especially from China, according to multiple reports. Biodlingsföretagarna believes that fake honey could in the long term threaten food supply in all of Europe, with Kihlberg noting that if bees disappear, crops are not pollinated and then food becomes more expensive.
Now it is only a matter of time before authorities adopt it and can start using it.
Now extremely cheap, fake honey is flowing in, especially from China. If bees disappear, crops are not pollinated and then food becomes more expensive.
According to Yngve Kihlberg, virtually all honey imported to Sweden is adulterated.