The purity of Australian honey

Good question! because “Aussies” are all so honest … whatever an “Aussie” is …

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The following wikihow is a great read about honey and how to test it at home.

https://m.wikihow.com/Verify-the-Purity-of-Honey

It concludes there is no single one home test that is reliable although some can give an indication that honey may have a particular impurity. Eg added water.

Just noted pure honey is approx 18% water anyway.
And some syrups used to dilute honey behave in a similar way to pure honey making home testing for these very difficult.

We have a local source of natural organic honey that is almost black, thick like tar and definitely bitter. It will fail the taste test alone, but comes from a reputable source. The bitter tone is a characteristic of the source according to a independent third party.

The CSIRO suggestion of traceable products is one positive although a block chain may be fanciful for the computing costs involved. That the CSIRO can use isotopes to identify product source locations. This suggests that testing using advanced methods to determine if there is something added that does not match the source location may be enough if the accountability is also transparent.

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I would take this with a grain of salt.

No straightforward test of broad chemical composition, such as the sugar molecules present, is useful because the cheats mimic the sugar composition of real honey with cheaper substitutes and there is considerable variation in natural honey. The industry tests in use (that are not all 100% reliable) go into the detail of the composition and its origin. The bulk physical properties; melting boiling, viscosity, colour etc, will not distinguish real from fake.

Honey can be adulterated with many substances in varying quantities and unadulterated honey comes from many sources at various times of the year and may or may not be blended. How does such a simple test deal effectively with so many variables?

If a simple test was available why would the industry be spending money on such complex and expensive analysis as C4 testing (measures the atomic isotope composition) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)?

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All it said was real honey will leave a formation of honeycomb and not dissolve.

It’s was not suppose to be scientific.

My organic honey left a honeycomb pattern and didn’t dissolve in water…

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Science is not just things done in big laboratories by dudes in eyegalasses and white coats. You or I can do science if we like. The attitude and the method is the key not the price of the toys.

It is about making reliable observations of the world and accurately interpreting them in a way that can be verified by others. If the “try this quick test” brigade on the internet published their data and the reasons why they believe their test works I would be more impressed. Even then I would want to check their sums!

Am I a sceptic? Yep, it has saved me much grief over the years.

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Is this the video?

I suspect that the pattern is because of the wave action/water flowing over the surface of the honey. These patterns are similar to those seen on the surface of sand banks in rivers/oceans, just a smaller scale.

I think that it won’t show real compared to adulterated honey…as it will depend on the solubility and viscosity of the ‘honey’ when the home test is performed. In winter, the solubility will be a lot less and viscosity of the ‘honey’ a lot higher as the tap water will be cool/cold. These patterns will take longer to form and the honey will not dissolve as quickly.

The reverse would apply in summer as the solubility will be higher and viscosity of the ‘honey’ lower making the surface ripples appear quicker and/or the ‘honey’ dissolving more quickly.

Honey will also dissolve into water. If one places honey in a glass with tap water say at around 20oC, the honey will eventually fully dissolve into the water with agitation and patience. At boiling point, the honey will dissolve almost instantaneously with agitation.

I suspect the same effect in the video will occur with high viscosity syrups such as treacle/golden syrup, when the water is cool. With these sugar syrups, the ability to see the effect will be less as they are darker in colour.

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I have just received an email regarding an update for a Change.org petition I signed. It was started by Simon Mulvany in relation to Capilano Honey.

If anyone would like to support his petition or him, the links are in the article.

If there was any chance that we might have ever bought Capilano honey again, it has certainly gone out the window after their disgraceful, high-handed behaviour,

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I really wish I could believe in the NSW Supreme Court but, from experience, I can’t… and now it’s been sent to the VIC Supreme Court. Apparently Capilano have spent around $2m on their case… not sure how your average Joe is supposed to counter that… justice can’t be achieved until the trial is completed but most “people” can’t afford justice.

It’s despicable that a company can take an individual through a very expensive court proceeding for making claims on a blog whereas corporations are breaking the law left, right and centre and it’s up to the individual to do something about it, via a very expensive court case… something seems a little unbalanced here.

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I used to be a change.org subscriber, but they sent me so many garbage campaigns that I dropped it. Choice doesn’t run the range of campaigns, but also doesn’t have some hidden agenda.

On the subject of honey, I accidentally bought a ‘honey product’ a few years ago. On tasting it was clearly not honey, and we returned it for a refund. I also wrote a complaint to the supermarket, and the product disappeared from shelves shortly thereafter.

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Their constant requests for money drive me nuts. The company that owns it, one of Soros’s I think, would be making a fortune out of slacktivists.

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change.org is off topic on this thread but it has been brought into it by the equivalent of a drive-by.

Quite true. It can be seriously annoying.

Your reference to Soros and ‘slacktivists’ as you did was curious. There is a partisan organisation that has made that claim without any evidence cited. While not the most authoritative resource, Wikipedia first

and

and a business journal article

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Since we’re on the subject of change.org, I might as well describe the kind of campaign that led me to leave it.

I kept getting emails about things like “this guy who molested my child is about to get out of prison and the government needs to change laws to keep him locked up!” Now I’m not in favour of child molesters in any way, but I am in favour of the rule of law. If someone has been sentenced for a crime, and served their sentence, they deserve freedom. If the person has not been rehabilitated, then that’s a problem for society rather than the individual; we need to improve rehabilitation programs. They do not deserve further punishment because we failed them!

Law based upon individual cases is bad law!

So after seeing repeated calls like this - and very few important matters being addressed - I unsubscribed.

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That and many others - I agree.

Has change.org ever actually demonstrably changed anything? or is it just a bleating/venting-ground for people who need it? I don’t mean that to sound condescending, we all need to bleat/vent sometimes, just it might be as useful under a blanket in the corner of the garage, quietly, with no witnesses …

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Yes - although it is difficult to quantify the website’s effect. A lot of entities - including governments - see large numbers of petitionees as meaning “this issue is important to our stakeholders”. Here is the change.org list of Australian ‘victories’.

Important note: while change.org claims to have forced change, it is impossible in many circumstances to identify whether its campaigns have in fact. Obvious example: change.org is claiming responsibility for the pardon of James Ricketson in Cambodia. This is an issue that should have been taking a lot of the Foreign Minister’s time, along with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, so it is not clear that change.org was the catalyst for the decision - or if it was part of the catalyst.

Those caveats aside, I suspect that change.org is having some impact - and not simply directly. There have been media reports on prominent change.org campaigns. Once something like that gets into the media, public relations people start earning their inflated salaries. Issues such as Queensland laws permitting ‘gay panic’ as a legal defence for murder, or persuading Coopers Beer to support marriage equality.

The manner in which change.org operates is one where I think it is impossible to identify its ‘contribution’ to changes large and small. That said, I think the contribution is real, as shown for instance in the Federal Health (and Sport???) Minister’s response to a petition regarding the treatment of women with endometriosis.

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I’m typically a bit (lot) cynical, but you make a good point (if I read correctly) that whether the change is directly attributable or whether they are ‘just’ part of a cumulative weight brought to bear - they may well have influence, some or lots. Like so many things, hard to quantify - it’s possibly a bit of a medley - them, some press referencing them or them referencing press, etc etc. Still not a born again fan, but still good points …

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Another expose of the honey industry.

Particularly interesting regarding the Manuka honey fraud where there are only around 1,700 tonnes produced but there are around 10,000 tonnes sold. It really speaks volumes about the honey fraud.

It is reminiscent of the Egyptian cotton fraud expose last year whereby the amount of Egyptian cotton items sold globally was many times greater than the amount of Egyptian cotton produced, causing one major USA retail chain to stop selling such items and offer all their customers a full refund.

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Back to the Honey Honesty sagas.

Do we need a national registration and accreditation scheme for honey? It may also serve for a limited range of genuine Australian products that should be protected from misrepresentation, imitation, and fakery.

Domestic product integrity or assurance, economic value and international product reputations are all at risk. Obviously the current rewards for fooling the consumer are much greater than the risks. The damage to our export markets also hurt the producers and indirectly the consumer through the broader economy.

Italy and France as examples have long had to deal with these issues over wine products, cheese etc. They have schemes to provide attestion and registration, region or authenticity, and variety recognition.

While any system can be subject to fraud, any such legislated requirements can be backed up by additional penalties that target a particular industry of significance, eg Australian Honey. The penalties could specifically apply to adulteration, mislabelling or falsely stating the product origins and purity of that product. Penalties proportionate to the economic harm done or benefit gained with many many zeroes on the end might be needed to ensure the financial benefits of gaming the system are far outweighed by the consequences. There is good reason to include the key offences as criminal acts with incarceration as a penalty.

Current legislation is more intent on food safety outcomes. Issues around discription and labelling may be more a marketing misdemeanour than a criminal fraud?

Most states have in place systems for registration of commercial hives and some for domestic also. There are a limited number of producers representative groups who may support a more formalised program to remove risk from the industry and secure their integrity and livelihoods? Any penalties could go back into the industry for enforcement as well as research to aid safe honey production.

Whether our current legislation is adequate, it seems likely someone is asleep at the wheel or driving the truck full of dodgy produce? Taking advantage of the consumer and Greed may not be a malaise unique to the local Banking and Financial Services sector.

I wait with interest the 30 second fix from the latest Prime Minister and the real fix from his Deputy? Are Bee Keepers industrialists or farmers I wonder?

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And there will be more to come. My guess is that the industry insiders know a fair bit more about this but have decided in the past that they don’t want to open the can of worms, as even the honest ones will get caught up in the purge if they name and shame.

Note that this study uses the C4 test according to current standards to determine purity, despite the high numbers found to be adulterated they ought to have been caught out by current testing but apparently were not. This suggests that the current testing regime is useless to detect even C4 adulteration. Are they under-funded? Are they incompetent or corrupt?

This study did not use NMR the test that can detect adulteration by C3 sugars, so potentially there are more ring-ins to be found if this test was used.

What they found, using trace element analysis, was that geographic origin labelling is also being rorted. This matters for several reasons, including because place of origin may command a price premium. They allege that much more Manuka honey is sold than produced.

So far the industry has presented blanket denials. How long until there is a move to amend the testing regime? Who will move first the industry or the regulators? Stay tuned for much more excitement.

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Perhaps some “Mixed Blossom” honey needs to be more aptly labelled “Mixed Blessings” honey? Made from a mixture of good and not so good.

My latest jar of locally labelled honey is aptly labelled “Raw Honey”. I won’t speculate on it’s authenticity or detail the supplier as they are likely one of the good guys. I am also aware of the difference between raw and pure, in theory. In practice I now doubt all product I have not personally extracted from a hive.

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I had been trying for about two weeks to unsubscribe to Change…however as I had never had a password, and that was the only way I could, to keep a long story short, I had to get Telstra Planinum (my saviours) to unplug me from them.’ The thing that got in my craw was, they would not let me sign if I did not have a Facebook A/C, so what is that all about. So to them I could therefore donate instead!!!
So glad to be rid of them.

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