The Honey Trap

Profiteers often adulterate honey, with cheap sugar syrup. The public can consequently be sold inferior 'honey'. Artisan bee keepers are, of course, put at a financial disadvantage. It's currently impossible to prove that honey has been adulterated. Measuring sugar concentrations can, however, raise suspicions. The European Union's (EU) Food Fraud Network arranged to test 320 EU-purchased 'honey samples'. One hundred and forty-seven (almost 50%) had 'suspicious' sugar concentrations (https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/mar/26/uk-honey-fails-authenticity-test). The 18 countries of the EU, support its Food Fraud Network. After Brexit, the UK ceased any such involvement. Ten samples of 'UK' honey, sold in the EU, were, however, included in the Food Fraud Network tests. All 10 appeared adulterated with sugar syrup. In 2022, the UK imported 38,000 tonnes of honey, mostly from China. Such imported honey is then blended, repackaged and sometimes re-exported. Blended honey, from more than one country, actually doesn't have to reveal its origins. This is, presumably, how the 10 'UK' samples, arrived for sale, in the EU. Pooh bear would be horrified.