Manuka Expose´ - UMF Test ‘Inaccurate and Unreliable’

Honey Companies Knew UMF Test Was Inaccurate
Scoop Independent News (New Zealand), 5/29/2008

Manuka honey companies which rely on the UMF test for anti-bacterial activity have known for five years it is inaccurate and unreliable.

A newspaper distributed today across the manuka honey industry reveals the UMF test is “not repeatable”, with results from multiple tests on the same sample varying by up to 50%.

The UMF (unique manuka factor) test is the basis of domestic and export manuka honey and honey product markets worth more than $100 million a year.

The Manuka Expose´ newspaper publishes excerpts from minutes of a meeting of the Active Manuka Honey Association and a letter to AMHA from the testing laboratory which show test problems were known to honey companies in 2003.

Manuka Expose´ is published by Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd which uses the recently-discovered active ingredient methylglyoxal to measure anti-bacterial strength.

When Manuka Health launched MGO™ manuka honey earlier this year, AMHA invalidly terminated the company’s membership and revoked its licence to use the UMF brand.

In an article headed “Test lab, producers knew of UMF errors” the tabloid paper says the UMF test is based on an agar diffusion technique “used as a screening method to give a general classification of anti-bacterial activity”.

“Micobiologists never use the method as a precise measurement,” the paper says. “Because of the variation inherent in the technique, results are normally interpreted as part of a range.”

“Despite this, AMHA adopted UMF as an exact measure — with unfortunate consequences for beekeepers, honey producers and consumers.”…

See Related Story: Tabloid Calls for Active Ingredient Test