Fake honey is abundant in many countries. A threat to the livelihood of professionals, targeted by “detectives” in Spain.
O mel it is produced exclusively by bees. But about half the honey we buy is not pure: yeah mixed with other sugars, such as corn syrup or rice syrup.
At the beginning of this year, it was given in Portugal by the president of FNAP – National Federation of Beekeepers of Portugal, Manuel Gonçalves: “What has been coming (to Portugal) is not honey: it is a honey substitute”.
Honey substitute is a concentrated syrup, with a dense consistency, sweet flavor and golden color, which undergoes hydrolysis, a chemical reaction.
Fake honey is not necessarily a threat to the health of those who consume it – but it is a threat to the livelihood of professionalsfrom beekeepers.
Em Spain there is “detectives” trying to put an end to the trade in this fake honey: “This makes us feel bad, as beekeepers who love our work, because this type of honey creates unfair competition in the market, as it reaches very low prices with which traditional beekeeping cannot compete”, commented Julio Fernández López, beekeeper and president of the Asturias Honey Protected Geographical Indication.
Accompanies these ‘Food Detectives’, who work in a portable infrared camera which tries to detect fake honey directly on the beekeeper’s property.
“With this device, the person carrying out quality controls collects honey samples on site, prepares them in a sample holder very quickly and easily and then places them on the sensor. In a few seconds, they discover whether the honey is adulterated or pure”, explains one of these “detectives”, Armando Menéndez Estrada.
The chamber also determines the plant nectar that the bees consumed, which has an impact on the price of the jar of honey.
These researchers built a database: it has 110 honey from bees and 120 samples of sugary syrups that imitate the work of bees – the adulterated honey was created by the team itself.
It is these samples that feed the algorithm underlying the Watson solution. It then recognizes the different samples and detects fake honey labeled as real honey and identifies its botanical origin.
If this tool is approved, Armando Menéndez Estrada thinks it would be very useful in quality control: it would eliminate lengthy and expensive procedures in laboratories.
