Warning on pollen test to tackle phoney honey
New Zealand Farmer, 4/20/2014
The Ministry of Primary Industries has been warned by a top
British food scientist that it is in danger of taking a wrong step in the
battle against fake manuka honey producers.
Dr Adrian Charlton from Britain's Food and Environment
Research Agency food laboratory in York, where over 500 scientists work to protect
the public from adulterated and mislabelled food, warned MPI not to tell the
world's food watchdogs to test the authenticity of manuka honey by microscopic
pollen analysis.
Charlton, speaking at an Auckland seminar attended by manuka
honey producers, was commenting on a proposal by MPI that a definition of what
manuka honey is be based on "pollen count", the measurement of the
concentration of pollen trapped in honey.
A definition of manuka honey is being sought as part of a
strategy to tackle fakery in the manuka honey business, which is blighting the
industry's reputation and hindering its ability to become a
half-billion-dollar-a-year export industry for New Zealand.
But Charlton said: "Pollen analysis is subjective and,
in this case, is not fit for purpose."
It was less accurate than other forms of testing as human
error crept in, and honey could have pollen added by unscrupulous producers in
order to turn their ordinary pot of honey into fake manuka which could be sold
for a much higher price.
Another issue with pollen testing was that kanuka and manuka
pollen is extremely hard to tell apart, he said.
Producers also note that a pollen test would not
differentiate Australian jellybush honey from manuka, opening the door to the
Aussies to cash in on the manuka name.
Charlton said that MPI should focus on defining what manuka
honey is and let the world's scientists and testing laboratories work out the
best methods for testing…
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