Major honey-producing brands in India, including Dabur and Patanjali, have come under the environment watchdog Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’s lens, which claimed on Wednesday that honey sold by 13 major brands has been found adulterated with sugar syrup.
The CSE study said honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, and some smaller brands failed the NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) test carried out by a foreign laboratory. Food researchers at CSE selected 13 top brands and some smaller brands that sell processed and raw honey in India to check their purity. The researchers found that 77 per cent of the samples were adulterated with sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples that were checked, only five passed all the tests.
Indian brands deny report:
However, the leading Indian brands have denied these reports calling them malicious and baseless; and that they comply with the guidelines laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Dabur, however, has rejected the allegation and said that “Dabur Honey clears all FSSAI tests and has the first corporate-owned NMR machine in India to ensure 100% purity.”
The CSE report has been rejected by Patanjali spokesperson, The Print reported. Acharya Balkrishan from Patanjali has called the report “a plot to defame Indian natural honey industry.” He also added that it might be a way of promoting German technology in India.
The manufacturer of Zandu Pure Honey, Emami also said that its “honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the Government of India and its authorized entities such as FSSAI.”
What CSE says:
CSE Director-General Sunita Narain said an additional undercover operation was conducted to find out more details. “It is a food fraud more nefarious and more sophisticated than what we found in our 2003 and 2006 investigations into soft drinks; more damaging to our health than perhaps anything that we have found till now– keeping in mind the fact that we are still fighting against a killer COVID-19 pandemic with our backs to the wall. This overuse of sugar in our diet will make it worse,” said Narain while releasing a new CSE investigation into honey adulteration.
“This is immensely worrying, as it will further compromise health in the troubled times of COVID-19. We know that households today are consuming more honey because of its intrinsic goodness – antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.
"Our research has found that most of the honey sold in the market is adulterated with sugar syrup. Therefore, instead of honey, people are eating more sugar, which will add to the risk of COVID-19. Sugar ingestion is directly linked to obesity, and obese people are more vulnerable to life-threatening infections,” added Narain.
