Queen’s grocer cans Kiwi honey
The Queen’s official grocer has pulled New Zealand-made manuka honey from its shelves after testing found lower than expected levels of a key ingredient.
Fortnum & Mason removed the pots of honey after testing by the United Kingdom’s Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) laboratory found some contained low levels of the manuka’s active ingredient leptosperin.
New Zealand’s food safety minister, David Bennett, said pollen DNA-testing on honey exports was being introduced in an effort to reassure overseas markets.
FERA analysed nine pots from British retailers including Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Fortnum & Mason. The honey can cost up to $120 for a 250g jar.
All nine samples contained some manuka honey markers, but three contained low levels of leptosperin, reigniting concerns over the quality of manuka honey sold in the UK. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, which commissioned the testing, is expected to publish further revelations today.
New Zealand’s manuka honey has celebrity fans including Kourtney Kardashian, Novak Djokovic, and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.
On Friday, the Ministry for Primary Industries said it was getting close to introducing chemical and pollen DNA testing that all ‘‘monofloral’’ honeys such as manuka would have to undergo before being allowed to leave the country.
And Bennett, who has been food safety minister for less than two months, defended the three years it has taken for MPI to complete the work. ‘‘It’s more important to get this right than to rush it.’’
Concerns over the quality of the manuka honey on sale overseas have been rumbling since the late 2000s.
The UK is especially sensitive after a run of food scandals and retailers are now quick to respond to concerns.
A Fortnum & Mason spokesperson said: ‘‘As a precautionary measure in the light of this new testing procedure, we have removed all stock from our shelves until we have fully investigated.’’
The Fortnum & Mason manuka honey was supplied to UK company Tropical Forest Products by a New Zealand supplier. Its branded manuka honey scored below the 100mg/kg of leptosperin that FERA said manuka products would be ‘‘expected to contain’’.
Tropical Forest Products director David Wainwright said the test for leptosperin was new and not included as part of standard testing. ‘‘As a precautionary measure in the light of this new testing procedure, our customers have removed all stock from their shelves until we have fully investigated.
‘‘We buy our manuka honey from trusted New Zealand beekeepers and retain the certificate of analysis that accompanies deliveries of this product.’’
John Rawcliffe from the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA), which funded the development of the tests FERA used, said that in five years of testing, no UMFHA-labelled honey had failed an authenticity test.
‘‘If it has a UMF label, British consumers can be sure it is manuka honey,’’ he said.
Late last year, Rawcliffe spent five weeks in London trying to educate UK retailers on how to verify the quality of the honey they stocked.
‘‘I made sure they all had my number,’’ he said. ‘‘None called.’’
Rawcliffe fears that weakening the reputation of the New Zealand industry could open the door to rivals. Australian producers have started calling their Jellybush honey ‘‘Australia’s manuka’’, while producers in Turkey and Portugal are planting manuka.