Here is some very sad news. The prestigious biennial Apimondia event has cancelled its honey awards because of the rampant adulteration of honey, world wide. Recent issues of the Newsletter have drawn attention to this appalling practice, but who would have imagined that it would progress to this?
… The awards are normally presented at the congress, typically held every two years, and attended by thousands of beekeepers, scientists and industry representatives. Dozens of entries in recent honey competitions have been rejected because adulteration was suspected.
About 45% of honeys were rejected at the awards in Montreal in 2019 for a variety of reasons, including suspected adulteration. At the Istanbul congress in 2022, 39 out of 145 honeys were withdrawn for the same reason. The awards also have other categories, which will still be judged at next year’s competition, including beeswax, mead, innovation and publications…
…An EU investigation published last year found 46% of imported sampled products were suspected to be fraudulent, including all 10 from the UK…
(The above are quotes from the extensive article which can be accessed via the following link): https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/30/beekeepers-halt-honey-awards
Thank you to Peter Webb for bringing this news to our notice.
Let us hope that there is never a reason for this to occur at any of our honey shows.
Does it not leave us all at a loss for words?