Honey adulteration has been on the minds of many beekeepers recently. With the advent of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), there was an epidemic of this practice in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Unfortunately, there again is a considerable amount going on in the U.S. Although strides have been made by scientists such as Dr. Jack White, retired from the USDA Philadelphia chemical laboratory, detecting adulteration isn't easy nor foolproof.

The honey adulteration issue was the focus of a panel at the American Beekeeping Federation, January 19, 1995 in Austin, TX. Dr. White set the record straight on testing, saying it was much further along than enforcement.

Dr. Allan Brause, of Analytical Chemical Services of Columbia, Inc. provided those in attendance with a copy of Technical Bulletin #7, released November 1992 on "Authenticity of Honey," the seventh in a series on juices and foods.

According to this document, honey is defined in USDA grading specifications 7CFR52.1391-1405 in rather general terms. There is no FDA standard of identity for honey. Although grades are recognized by USDA, the Bulletin says these are not a measure of authenticity and "non authentic material with sugar added to cover brix and color added to cover dilution could easily be evaluated at USDA grade A."

Unfortunately, the Bulletin says there is no single procedure that will assure any product is actually honey. Instead, a battery of tests is required to verify that nothing has been added to or substituted for the real thing. This can be thought of as a matrix, which includes sugar profile, hydroxymethyl furfural content, stable isotope ratio analysis, oligosaccharides by HPLC, sugars by capillary GC, metals and pesticide residues (not required for authenticity).

The following is a summary of what the tests are designed to do as stated in the Bulletin:

Sugar Profile: Normal honey shows a ratio of fructose to glucose of over 1.20. Addition of sugars (HFCS, beet and cane) to raise brix and cover dilution of product is an indication of adulteration. However, the detection of HFCS requires further analysis.

Hydroxymethly furfural (HMF): HMF is a phenol, a chief component of caramel color. If caramel color has been added to cover dilution, HMF level rises.

Stable Isotope Ratio Analyis: All sugar producing plants fit in two categories: C3 (Calvin)cycle with typical values of -22 to -30 parts per thousand (ppt) and C4 (Hatch-Slack) cycle with typical values of -8 to -11. Corn and cane are C4 types, while beet, honey and most fruits are C3 types. This difference allows relatively easy detection of corn and cane syrup added to honey.

Oligosaccharides: This is designed to detect invert sugars added to honey. Invert sugar which resembles honey contains minute impurities caused by the inversion process that indicate adulteration.

Capillary GC: Also designed to detect minute impurities found in invert sugar.

Organic acids: Honey has only a small amount of organic acids, chiefly citric acid.

Metals: Elevated sodium and calcium levels and decreased amounts of potassium and/or magnesium will show addition of extraneous materials used to adulterate honey.

Pesticide residues: Honey should also be free of pesticide residues. Fluvalinate, amitraz and chlordimeform have been detected in honey. Fluvalinate has a 0.05 parts per million (ppm) tolerance, amitraz 1 ppm and chlordimeform (0 ppm).

The above information, the pamphlet concludes, provides both producer and seller of honey a better grasp of how adulteration occurs and what can be done to detect it. In a separate document, an estimate of the costs of doing these tests on a per sample basis were provided at the Federation meeting: HPLC sugar ($65), isotope ratio analysis ($55), Comprehensive screen ($215) and a combined test ($250). For further information, contact Analytical Chemical Services of Columbia, Inc., 1- 800-842-ACSC or fax 410-730-8340.