Major Brands in India selling honey adulterated with sugar syrup

New Delhi: Honey sold by several major brands in India has been found adulterated with sugar syrup, the environment watchdog Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claimed on Wednesday.

CSE food researchers had selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India to check their purity.

They found 77% of the samples adulterated with the addition of sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples checked, only five passed all the tests.

"Honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hikari and Apis Himalaya, all failed the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) test," the study said.

There was no reply or explanation from Dabur, Emami and Patanjali on the CSE findings, while a spokesperson for Baidyanath and other companies couldn't be contacted immediately.

Samples of these brands were first tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat.

According to the Centre for Science and Environment, almost most of the top brands passed the tests of purity of honey, while a few smaller brands failed the tests to detect C4 sugar- which is the basic adulteration using cane sugar.

"But when the same brands were tested using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)- laboratory tests currently being used globally to check for such modified sugar syrups- almost all big and small brands failed. Out of the 13 brands tests, only three passed the NMR test, which was done by a specialised laboratory in Germany," claimed CSE researchers.

The CSE also claimed that it tracked down Chinese trade portals which were advertising fructose syrup which has the capacity to bypass adulteration check. It also found that the same Chinese companies had advertised fructose syrup that can beat C3 and C4 tests which were exported to India.

Amit Khurana, programme director of CSE's Food Safety and Toxins team said, "What we found was shocking. It shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India."

CSE director general Sunita Narain said they will conduct an undercover operation to find out more about the adulteration scenario.

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