Let’s Clean Up The Honey Market

𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 — 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 “𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠”

This is yet another example that illustrates the global situation in the honey market.
From the production, import, and export graphs, it is evident how much consumption has increased.
Import and export are completely normal economic phenomena, but unfortunately, in the honey market, fraud is often hidden behind them.

𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲?

Read more Daily Maverick https://lnkd.in/dwp3aCdS

Shocking Findings from UK Honey Testing!

Beekeepers across the United Kingdom recently sent honey samples from supermarkets and large retailers for advanced DNA Metagenomic Testing to verify their authenticity.

The results? 96% of the supermarket samples failed.
These failing samples were all imported honeys.

The only sample to pass was a British supermarket honey labeled as being “100% from the UK.”

This raises serious questions about transparency and the quality of honey sold in the UK.

💡 Why it matters: Supporting local beekeepers and demanding transparency in food labeling is critical for consumers and our environment.

What more is needed for proof?

German beekeepers collected 30 jars of honey from stores across Germany and sent them to a lab for testing to determine whether it was actually honey, and the results were shocking, 80% of the samples failed! 

Press release from the President of the European Professional Beekeepers Association
https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-up-the-honey-market

Does anyone dare to predict the volume of fraud uncovered in the EU in tons after the authorities have completed their work?

Fake honey has been a persistent issue in Türkiye, leading the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to intensify efforts to curb food fraud.
Recent investigations have revealed more cases of honey adulteration, with brands using deceptive techniques to mimic authentic honey.
In one major operation in Ankara, authorities uncovered 8,150 tons of adulterated products, including honey mixed with glucose and fructose syrups.

Türkiye’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry exposed two well-known honey brands, “Abali” and “Balpetek,” for selling fake honey. https://lnkd.in/dA4-FnqP

Bernhard Heuvel visited Estonia.

The purpose of the visit is a honey DNA test developed by Estonian scientists. It is believed that the MDA test could be a GAME CHANGER in the global honey market.

Bernhard Heuvel, from the European Professional Beekeepers Association, visited Estonia.

The main focus right now is on detecting fraud, and currently, the honey DNA test is known to be very successful in this 👏, but there is a lot more …

Think for a moment ☝  about how the introduction of DNA revolutionized forensic science…

The results are now clear in Finland as well

in August, we collected 56 samples from Finnish retail together with the European Professional Beekeepers Association (EPBA) Bernhard Heuvel.

📍 Result: 62.5% turned out to be atypical “honey,” meaning they can be considered likely counterfeit.

🧬 The honey was tested using the innovative honey DNA test by CELVIA 👍 We are proud of our CELVIA scientists, who have become global pioneers in eliminating honey fraud with this DNA testing!”

More about honey DNA test;
https://lnkd.in/d8QbuX8u

Honey samples from Mexico to DNA testing!

Federico Berron A. Retired CEO of honey exporter 1984-2023,

200,000 MT real honey export experience Beekeeper up to 600 hives since 1999, now my son.

Anti GMO activist 2012 – Today

webpage: www.honeyap.org

Full videointeview with Frederico Berron -> https://youtu.be/8uB09IillgY

What if DNA could reveal the truth about your honey?

At CELVIA, we use groundbreaking honey metagenomic DNA analysis to uncover what’s really inside.
When new discoveries are made, people are often skeptical. That’s why we, as researchers, want to explain how this works in simple terms.

Let’s break it down in 4 points:

1. The future of food testing
Our Metagenomic DNA Analysis (MDA test) uses the same technology that’s applied in medical research, now adapted for the food industry.
It’s a powerful method that analyzes every DNA sequence found in honey. With this, we create a unique DNA profile for each honey sample.
Authentic honey is complex, and we use advanced machine learning to analyze it. This method will shape food safety for years to come.

2. Global genome reference database
We’ve built a comprehensive database that compares the DNA found in honey samples to a global collection of data.
This includes information from all living species like plants, insects, fungi, mammals and DNA viruses, collected over decades of research. This allows us to analyze honey from anywhere in the world.

3. Authentic and non-authentic honey database
Between 2020-2023, we developed a database of both real and fake honey, funded by public research and coordinated by the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board.
This database contains honey samples from the Baltics and beyond, helping us to accurately determine honey quality

Extracting DNA from real honey is simple for us.
If the honey is pure, the DNA is of high quality. If it’s been tampered with, the DNA tells the story.
Our slogan, “DNA doesn’t lie,” is equally valid in medicine, criminalistics, and food safety.

Curious about the quality of your honey? 🧬

Kaarel Krjutškov PhD CEO
Celvia CC AS
Associate Professor, University of Tartu, Estonia

The European Union 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐬 – and there is nothing to argue about here.

Council Directive 2001/110/EC, Annex 1, point 1 defines it as: “the natural sweet substance produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plant, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature.”

Replies from scientists;

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲
The honey Metagenomic DNA Analysis (MDA) team is in the process of publishing their research in a peer-reviewed journal. The preprint has been available in the bioRxiv database since July 31st, 2024. The link is below. The manuscript describes the honey DNA composition aspect of MDA analysis, leaving authenticity analysis out of scope due to confidential reasons. The MDA team, part of Celvia CC service laboratory, collaborates with authorities and the accreditation center.

𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬
The authentic honey DNA profile database consists of 100% genuine and trackable honey samples from different geographic origins. Honey authenticity analyses apply four machine learning-based models. Botanical composition is only one piece of the puzzle and moderately affects the analysis. The physiology of honeybees and the complex picture of honey DNA profile have high similarities across countries. Authentic honey varies mainly in botanical composition and has minor differences in other organisms, which does not significantly change the honey’s DNA profile. In other words, the authentic honey DNA profile is much more complex than we imagine. That is why it is tamper-proof.

The honey DNA analysis uses a comprehensive reference DNA sequence database, compiled DNA sequences for all different organisms from all publicly available biological databases. In addition, the MDA team has enlarged the database with novel sequences to improve the accuracy of the analysis.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?
It was time because honey bulk DNA analysis has become cost-effective in food market monitoring and as a quality label. It happened and will be that way for a long time, just like forensics and medicine. In other words, DNA analysis is here to stay. It is time to adapt to this knowledge and the capabilities of DNA analysis. The saying “adapt or perish” applies here. As scientists, we are willing to engage in an educational program to introduce this topic to the people involved. The same has happened in forensics and medicine and will happen in food production and supervision.

Link to the original manuscript
https://lnkd.in/dYiDQ66v

Kaarel Krjutskov | PhD CEO | Celvia CC AS | Associate Professor, University of Tartu, Estonia | https://celvia.ee/

What more is needed for proof?

According to investigations, 46% of the collected samples were suspected of being adulterated with added syrups.

Read more…