The CFIA report from last week found over 20% of the samples they tested were adulterated. These results mirror what have been seen in the European Union and in Australia. The CFIA needs to expand these analysis of Canadian honey further.
At the end of 2018 a paper came out in Nature Scientific Reports detailing an analysis of a number of honey from Australia and New Zealand as well as from other parts of the world. Well over 20% had indications of fraud using EA-IRMS. Read more about the report here
Using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machine, Peter Awram’s lab will be able to determine if cheap sweeteners, such as corn syrup or rice syrup, have been added to particular brands of honey to increase producers’ profits.
In the last fiscal year, more than 23 per cent of imported honey products tested by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency contained additives, despite being labelled pure. The agency found the honey had been diluted with rice and corn syrups.
A new cutting-edge laboratory to detect fake honey — the first in Canada — opened Thursday by the Worker Bee Honey Company of Chilliwack. “Our new lab is a response to honey adulteration, a worldwide problem which is growing larger,” said Peter Awram of the Worker Bee Honey.
