Oh honey, this tastes bitter!

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has sure bombed us with its findings that most of our honey brands are not just adulterated but done so with a type of sugar syrup. Some of the big names include Dabur, Patanjali and Zandu. This adulteration is so fine that it could bypass some of the basic tests used to detect adulteration in honey. Of course, these companies denied it and claimed that their products meet the regulatory requirements laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The Director General of CSE, Sunita Narain, stated that the organisation launched an investigation when beekeepers in North India reported reduced profits despite a spike in honey sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sunita Narain was right in saying "it is a food fraud more nefarious and more sophisticated than what we found in our 2003 and 2006 investigations into soft drinks; more damaging to our health than perhaps anything that we have found till now — keeping in mind the fact that we are still fighting against a killer COVID-19 pandemic with our backs to the wall." Researchers at the CSE selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India.

Samples from these were tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat. Almost all, except Apis Himalaya, passed the basic tests of purity, the CSE said. However, when the same brands were tested using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) test, which was conducted by a specialised laboratory in Germany, most brands failed. Of the 13 tested, only three brands - Saffola, MarkfedSohna and Nature's Nectar - passed the NMR test.

Whatever may be the claims of the companies in question in this regard, CSE's credibility rides them over when it says the products are adulterated. As for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, it is the gold-standard for testing in this case. In fact, NMR test is specific to these modified sugar syrups. The business of adulteration is sophisticated. The syrups are imported from China (now also manufactured in India - Jaspur, Uttarakhand). The companies claim that even if up to 80 per cent of the honey is adulterated using the syrup it will go undetected).

The technology is known as "resin technology" used more in fruit juices. (China uses this more for bee honey purification). This is not acceptable to the world. A 2018 EU Commission report of the technical round table on honey authentication identified resin treatment as one of major types of frauds in the honey sector and noted that "synthetic resins are illegally used to remove substances (antibiotics, pesticides) from honey".

Clearly, such ultra-filtration renders the end product ineligible to be called honey, experts say as it masks the geographic and botanical origin of the honey, which not only helps in blending with desired honey and syrups but also makes it difficult to spot the problem. Some Indian companies claimed an international conspiracy to wipe out Indian competition. But, they did not deny using the syrup. What shall we do with this one, honey?