EU Member-Countries Dump Syrup-Laced Honey From China

European Union (EU) countries are pushing for a crackdown on “honey laundering” as the bloc’s market is being flooded with cheap, syrup-laced honey from China, Joe Barnes reported for The Telegraph.

Photo Insert: The study commissioned by the European Commission (EC) discovered ingredients such as sugar syrups, food colorings, and water had been used to imitate more authentic honey.

Slovenia is leading a bloc of 20 national capitals urging Brussels to tighten its rules on products that can be labeled as honey after it was found that half of the honey sampled in a recent survey breached the bloc’s rules.

The study commissioned by the European Commission (EC) discovered ingredients such as sugar syrups, food colorings, and water had been used to imitate more authentic honey. “It’s basically sugar water,” an EU official told the Financial Times.

Four in five jars of honey sold in European supermarkets are blends of various ingredients, produced both in and outside the bloc.

The Slovenian’s proposal would ensure labeling would indicate the country of origin of the blends in question. Under current rules, sellers simply have to state that the blends contain a mix of EU and non-EU honey.

The commission will also be tasked with improving its honey detection capabilities in order to root out firms selling adulterated honey. “We want traceability and an end to trafficked honey,” a second official said.

The EU currently depends on imports to meet its honey needs. While it produces 218,000 tons of honey a year, it still imports 175,000 tons annually, mainly from China, Ukraine, Turkey, and a number of Latin American nations.

The EC assessed some 123 companies that were suspected of exporting sugar laced with syrups into the EU. Of those exporters, 70 were found to have missold honey into the bloc, with 21 of them coming from China.

Ukraine was the second largest exporter of adulterated honey. The rise in honey blends has put huge pressure on European producers, who charge at least €3.50 (£3) per kilo of honey.

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