With public concern over antibiotic residues in honey still lingering, the Consumer Council has released its test results on 34 samples to assist consumers in their choice for quality honey.
The test is the first the Council has conducted jointly with its South Korean counterpart, the Consumers Korea.
In terms of quality, honey is assessed for their contents of (a) fructose and glucose, (b) sucrose, (c) hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and (d) moisture.
Internationally, the CODEX Standard has issued specific parameters in the assessment of quality of general honeys.
As the composition of honey and royal jelly (3 samples), and barbecue honey/honey syrup (3 samples) may be different from general honeys, they were not included in the assessment.
Only the 28 honey samples in the test were compared with the Codex standard:
In fructose and glucose, 3 of the samples were less than the 60% required by the standard.
Similar to Codex, the sucrose content of not more than 5% in honey is also stipulated in the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations. One sample was measured to be as high as 13.6%. The Consumer Council has referred the sample to the Centre for Food Safety for follow up action.
The HMF levels (an indicator of freshness) of 6 samples were higher than the Codex standard of not more than 40 mg/kg. 2 were even higher than 80 mg/kg, which is the Codex level for honey from regions with tropical ambient temperatures, and blends of these honeys. The rest of the samples were measured to range from 3 mg/kg to 31 mg/kg.
Samples detected with high HMF may be due to excessive heat treatment during the extraction process or prolonged storage under high ambient temperature. HMF is not a harmful substance in itself.
The moisture content of 4 samples was higher than the 20% Codex standard for general honeys. The other samples contained moisture from 15% to 20%.
Honey readily absorbs moisture from air. Absorption of moisture lowers the keeping quality of the honey as honey with high moisture content may be more likely to ferment.
Some useful tips for choosing honey:
- Quality of honey degrades overtime; choose honey with a later expiry date or a closer production date.
- Check if there is leakage. If the sealing is not tight, honey may absorb moisture from air, resulting in lower quality.
- Good quality honey may have the specific flavour and aroma of floral source; honey of poorer quality may have alcoholic and acidic smell.
- Lastly, avoid honey with antibiotic residues in particular chloramphenicol.
Consumers are advised to consult this September issue of CHOICE for overall ratings of the various honey samples.
The Consumer Council reserves all its right (including copyright) in respect of CHOICE Magazine and Online CHOICE ( https://echoice.consumer.org.hk/ ).