The World Beekeeping Awards is not going to award a prize for honey subsequent yr after warnings of widespread fraud within the international provide chain.
Apimondia, the Worldwide Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, says it’ll showcase honey from world wide at its congress in Denmark, however for the primary time make no awards for the product.
The choice got here as beekeepers and importers face a mounting disaster over the dimensions of fraud, with warnings that real merchandise are bulked out with cheaper sugar syrup. Some widespread exams to detect fraud can simply be defeated, and beekeepers say there was a failure by meals watchdogs and the business to fight the fraudsters.
Apimondia mentioned in an announcement: “We are going to have fun honey in some ways on the congress, however honey will not be a class, and thus no honey judging, within the World Beekeeping Awards. This variation to take away honey as a class was necessitated by the shortcoming to have honey totally examined for adulteration.”
The awards are sometimes held each two years on the congress, attended by hundreds of beekeepers, scientists and business representatives. Dozens of entries in current honey competitions have been rejected as a result of adulteration was suspected.
About 45% of honeys have been rejected on the awards in Montreal in 2019 for quite a lot of causes, together with suspected adulteration. On the Istanbul congress in 2022, 39 out of 145 honeys have been withdrawn for suspected adulteration. The awards additionally has different classes, which can nonetheless be judged at subsequent yr’s competitors, together with beeswax, mead, innovation and publications.
Jeff Pettis, the federation’s president, says the primary laboratory exams for honey have been launched for the 2019 awards. Honeys which have been excluded have been changed with a card stating: “This exhibit has failed laboratory evaluation and can’t be judged additional.”
There have been logistical challenges for the competitors in authenticating entries and in border controls, he mentioned. The Copenhagen congress in September 2025 would spotlight the harm being completed to beekeepers world wide by fraud.
He mentioned: “We’re persevering with to combat for enhancements to the testing. We wish the general public to know that native honey is way much less more likely to be adulterated. The beekeepers get their title on it and may stand behind it.”
He mentioned there was widespread adulteration in cheaper business honeys. The fraud can happen at any level of the provision chain, with many importers and retailers unwittingly buying and selling in pretend honey.
An EU investigation printed final yr discovered 46% of imported sampled merchandise have been suspected to be fraudulent, together with all 10 from the UK. Samples utilized in October by the UK department of the Honey Authenticity Community for a novel type of DNA testing discovered that 24 out of 25 jars from large UK retailers have been suspicious.
China is the world’s largest producer of honey, however consultants say it may be fraudulently blended with cheaper sugar syrup. The UK is the world’s largest importer of Chinese language honey, with greater than 39,000 tons imported final yr.
Bernhard Heuvel, president of the European Skilled Beekeepers Affiliation, mentioned there was overwhelming proof of fraud within the provide chain. “It’s simply unbelievable if the world organisation for all beekeepers can’t assure the authenticity of honey. The dimensions of this fraud is big.”
Dale Gibson, co-founder of Bermondsey Road Bees, which has hives in and round London, mentioned the UK ought to require importers to label the nation of origin on all honey, together with blends. He mentioned: “We have now to provide customers data on the level of sale that they will act on.”
Importers within the UK have rejected as unreliable the tons of of exams commissioned by campaigners and investigators on British-sold honey that steered adulteration. Regulators within the UK haven’t printed detailed outcomes of official exams, however rejected claims of great fraud.
An evaluation of meals crime printed by the Meals Requirements Company (FSA) in September mentioned it was “unlikely that adulterated honey is broadly current on the UK market”, however recognised the “complexities” in making the judgment.
Enid Brown, director of the World Beekeeping Awards, mentioned: “The UK authorities must get up to this drawback of adulteration of imported honey. Till the federal government begins official exams on honey and publishing the outcomes, we’re by no means going to win.”
A spokesperson for the Division for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs (Defra) mentioned: “We take any sort of meals fraud very critically. There is no such thing as a place for adulterated honey which undermines client confidence and downsides accountable companies appearing inside the regulation.
“We work carefully with enforcement authorities to make sure that honey offered within the UK will not be topic to adulteration, meets our excessive requirements, and maintains a stage taking part in discipline between honey producers.”
Andrew Quinn, head of the FSA’s Nationwide Meals Crime Unit, mentioned: “We’re working carefully with Defra and different authorities colleagues to develop conclusive testing that may be capable of set up the authenticity of honey on sale.”
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