Fake Manuka Honey in the UK

This morning's Sunday Times has an article saying there is more Manuka honey sold in the UK than what is actually produced in New Zealand, let alone taking into account what is sold in the rest of the world.

Unfortunately this is something that has been suspected within the industry for some time.

There are a couple of points to make. Firstly that it is not a food safety issue at all, we have seen nothing to suggest there is anything wrong from a food safety angle with the problem products. People can still consume them. Rather it is an authenticity issue over what properties are contained in a given brand's products and what they have tested for.

Some brands have been rating there honey on a peroxide activity basis - but this has known problems with research proving that the peroxide based activity is not stable. So we have no idea how they are able to assure that their labeled level of peroxide activity will still exist by the time the consumer buys it.

The other point is that the most common reason people buy manuka honey is with an expectation of receiving something extra to other honeys, and that extra property is the non-peroxide activity.

How do you know if Manuka Honey is Genuine?

Here are 5 tips for consumers to be aware of.

Or you can find examples of genuine UMF Manuka honey here.

The New Zealand Honey Shop has only ever sold UMF certified jars of honey.