Health giant fights back on manuka honey fakes

SOME ten thousand tons of manuka honey are sold around the world every year. The problem is that just 1,700 tons of it are produced – which means there are a lot of shoppers being conned.

Now, to fight the deluge of fake manuka, Britain’s biggest health food retailer is to start testing jars before they go on sale. Holland & Barrett is sending samples from every batch it receives for testing to confirm they contain enough genuine manuka honey.

There are fears unscrupulous suppliers who import the honey to Europe from New Zealand could be mixing it with cheaper honey or even glucose syrup. The honey, made from bees that pollinate the manuka bush in New Zealand, has antibacterial properties and has been shown to help wounds heal. It has long been used to help sore throats and digestive problems.

New Zealand has brought in controls to ensure only genuine manuka honey is exported, but there are fears some is tampered with before it reaches Britain.

All 34 types of manuka honey sold by Holland & Barrett will be quality tested.

Experts will measure the levels of methylglyoxal, or MGO, in each batch – an indicator of the honey’s antimicrobial strength. Only those containing 40 MGO to 850 MGO will go on sale.