Analysis of honey and other bee products

Honey expertise at the highest level

The Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories 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 you with customised services tailored to your needs by providing accurate, reliable, fast and cost-effective test results, and using our expert knowledge and in depth understanding of the industry. Our SOTA analysis bundle offers you comprehensive authenticity verification.

Honey – a natural product

Honey and other bee products (such as royal jelly, bee pollen and propolis) are considered as value-added natural food^[1]. Consumers expect a genuine product that is naturally pure and only minimally processed to maintain its valuable composition and properties. As bees produce the honey by collecting flower nectar, honeydew and pollen in close proximity to their hives (<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 foods in order to ensure its compliance with the high standards in place regarding its naturalness, purity and authenticity.

Global importance – production, trade, legal classification

Honey is produced and traded throughout the world. The main areas of production 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, the USA and the UK. As most countries with a high demand for honey are not self-sufficient in honey production, it is necessary to import honey from other countries. 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 against local regulatory standards and individual trade specifications. The European Union currently has the most comprehensive and stringent requirements for honey. They relate to product identity, composition, authenticity (i.e. origin and purity) and undesirable residues and contaminants. However, there are still some differences even within EU member states, as national laws and guidelines may apply in addition to the harmonised EU regulations. Conversely, honey exported from the EU to other countries such as Japan, China, USA and others may be subject to specific requirements.

Please contact us!

We are here to help: 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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