Independent testing has revealed honey producers outside New Zealand are supplying non-authentic mānuka honey.
With the continuous growth in demand for New Zealand mānuka honey around the world has come a surge of honey producers outside New Zealand mistakenly claiming they are producing the same honey to take advantage of the growing popularity of this category.
Known as the liquid gold of the honey world, New Zealand mānuka honey is a highly sought-after superfood with remarkable health properties that set it apart from other honeys so, it is no surprise it has become a target for imitation and misrepresentation.
Why does it matter where your mānuka honey comes from? There is a body of research developed over 40 years across more than 500 papers that has built a clear picture of the health properties delivered by New Zealand mānuka honey, the New Zealand mānuka tree and shown not to be replicable in honeys from other countries.
Variability in honey composition and bio-activity means it matters to consumers what they buy. If various honey from all around the world is included under the name mānuka consumers would no longer be able to identify honey that is genuinely beneficial, supported by evidence and which is just another honey.
100% of the honey samples failed to meet the New Zealand government mānuka honey identification test, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) definition, which is based on the concentration of four chemical markers and a DNA marker. These labelling guidelines were designed to give customers and consumers of New Zealand mānuka honey greater clarity on how to identify genuine mānuka honey. The samples were tested for mānuka DNA using four chemical parameters via a second method. According to the MPI definition, if the chemical and DNA markers are all above threshold levels, then the honey is deemed to be mānuka honey.
A single fail means it is not mānuka honey:
- Leptosperin, a critical marker of authenticity in New Zealand mānuka honey, produced only by the mānuka tree, that enters the bloodstream when consumed and is shown to be anti-inflammatory
- Methylglyoxal (MGO), the source of golden mānuka honey’s special antibacterial properties and an important potency measure
- 4-Hydroxyphenyllactic acid (4’HPLA) >1
- 2-Methoxybenzoic acid (2’MBA) >1
- 2’-Methoxy acetophenone (2’MAP) >5
- 3-Phenyllactic acid (3’PLA) >400
