Analysis of honey and other bee products

Honey expertise at the highest level

Eurofins Eurofins laboratories for food and feed testing in Germany with their Honey Competence Centre offer state-of-the-art analytical methods, scientific evaluation and legal compliance assessment of honey and other bee products. As a neutral and independent company, we are happy to provide customised services tailored to your needs by accurate, reliable, fast and cost-effective test results, and using our expert knowledge and deep understanding of the industry. Our SOTA analysis bundle offers you comprehensive authenticity verification.

Honey – a natural product

Honey and other bee products (like royal jelly, bee pollen and propolis) are considered as value-added natural food^[1]. The consumer expects a genuine product, which is pure by nature and only minimally processed to maintain its valuable composition and properties. Since bees produce the honey by collecting flower nectar, honeydew and pollen in close proximity of their beehives (<5 km radius), the environmental conditions have a direct influence on the composition and quality aspects of the honey. In addition, good beekeeping practices and the subsequent handling, processing and packaging procedures are key factors to obtain a high-quality product with a good shelf life. For this reason, honey is one of the best-controlled food items in order to ensure its compliance with the high standards in place regarding its naturalness, purity and authenticity.

Global significance – production, trade, legal classification

Honey is produced and traded worldwide. The main production areas are in Asia (e.g. China, India, Turkey, Vietnam), the Americas (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, USA), Africa (e.g. Angola, Central Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania) and Europe (e.g. Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine). The main areas of honey consumption and use as a food ingredient are Central Europe, Asia, USA and the UK. As most countries with a high demand for honey are not self-sufficient in honey production, imports of honey from other countries are necessary. However, legal regulations and quality standards for honey vary significantly in different parts of the world. Therefore, the sourced honey must always be well controlled with respect to the local regulatory standards as well as to the individual trade specifications. The most comprehensive and rigorous requirements for honey currently apply in the European Union. They refer to product identity, composition, authenticity (i.e. origin and purity), as well as to unwanted residues and contaminants. However, there are still certain differences even within the EU member countries, as national laws and guidelines may apply additionally to the harmonised EU regulations. Vice-versa, particular requirements may apply for honey exports from the EU to other countries like Japan, China, USA and others.

Please contact us!

We are at your side in all concerns: No matter whether you are a beekeeper, importer/exporter, broker, retailer, wholesaler, e-commerce business or a regulatory body, please feel free to contact us for further information.

^[1]http://www.fao.org/3/w0076E/w0076e00.htm

Standards, regulations and guidelines

• Codex Alimentarius Standard for Honey
• EU Honey Directive 2001/110/EC
• EU Coordinated Control Plan Honey
• APIMONDIA Statement on honey fraud
• International Honey Commission – Harmonized Methods
• International Honey Commission – European Unifloral Honeys
• International Honey Commission Main European Unifloral Honeys – Descriptive Sheets

Other interesting pages

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