Honey is a food that restores strength and strengthens the psyche, of course, only if it is real.

According to the types of plants from which it is obtained, honey is divided into monofloral and polyfloral honey. It is mostly syrupy, sometimes it can be sugary, the colors vary, but still, there are a few guidelines that will help you distinguish real from fake honey.

It is very difficult to detect fake products because the characteristics of honey vary due to nectar source, harvest season and geographical differences.

Efforts to crack down on fake products are increasing. Scientists from Cranfield University in Great Britain have successfully tested two new methods for determining the authenticity of honey, thus paving the way for fast and precise testing. Science Daily.

Honey, they point out, is often adulterated by adding cheap sugar syrups. As they state, a 2023 European Commission report found that 46 percent of 147 samples tested were likely mixed with cheap herbal syrups.

Scientists at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom have successfully tested new methods for determining the authenticity of honey, paving the way for rapid and accurate testing.

Namely, it is very difficult to detect fake products because the characteristics of honey vary due to the source of the nectar, the harvest season and geographical differences. Authentication methods, they explain, are expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, there is a growing need for reliable testing and the adoption of new anti-fraud rules.

A research project led by Dr Maria Anastasiadi from Cranfield University, in collaboration with the Food Standards Agency and the Science and Technology Council, used a specialized light analysis technique to detect fake honey without opening it. the jar.

Honey samples from the UK, fortified with rice and sugar beet syrups, were tested using a non-invasive Raman spectroscopy technique. It was first developed for pharmaceutical and safety diagnostics and has proven to be very accurate in detecting sugar syrups in these foods. Scientists combined SORS with machine learning to successfully identify sugar syrups from different plant sources.

"Honey is expensive and in demand – and can be a target of fraudsters, as a result of which genuine producers lose their profits, consumer confidence is undermined. This method is efficient and a quick tool for identifying suspicious samples, helping the industry to protect consumers and validate supply chains," explained Dr. Anastasiadi.

This tool is portable and easy to implement, making it ideal for testing along the supply chain.