IHA mulls over developing flawless method of honey test

Eminent scientists and food experts termed honey as Ambrosia, in a highly successful series of four webinars 'Hive to Home' organized by the newly formed India Honey Alliance.

Renowned experts from the various aspects of honey-making underscored the need to adopt validated 'fit for purpose' and grass-root testing methodology to prevent instances of adulteration in honey in India. The specialists focused on the robustness of existing testing standards in India, which ensure that the consumers get the honey of the highest quality. The experts also pointed out how honey is one of the most underrated natural substances that has therapeutic, medicinal and cosmetic qualities. The experts were speaking at a panel discussion hosted by India Honey Alliance, an association of honey producers, beekeepers, and technology experts formed to create a unified platform to promote the Indian Honey Industry. The two-part webinar was organized to address the issues raised by the result of honey testing done by one of the research agencies recently. The webinar with two panels each was attended by almost 200 people. Speaking during the conference, Dr Lalitha R Gowda, Chief Scientist (Rtd.), CFTRI, Mysuru emphasized that while NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is a "good biochemistry technique, however for honey, the NMR method currently lacks that kind of database to give out reliable and authentic result."

To add to the above, Dr Ajit Dua, CEO, Punjab Biotechnology Incubator, categorically said, "There is no single test that can detect all kinds of adulterants and contaminants in honey. One needs to consider a combination of tests to decide upon the quality of honey."

Noted clinical nutritionist Ishi Khosla said, "Honey is not a sweetener like refined sugar. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidizing, and anti-septic qualities."

The first panel - 'Journey of Honey' discussed the different techniques of bee farming, honey collection, honey processing, and packaging, and was moderated by Surendar Sharma, CEO Patanjali Food and Herbal Park, Head of manufacturing operations and e-commerce division of Patanjali. The eminent panelists included Dr Anu Appaiah, ex-principal Scientist, CFTRI; Arvind Chauhan, Bee-keeper; Naveen Garg, CEO, Kashmir Honey; and Vinit Singh, Director, Brij Honey.

The second panel discussed the 'fit for purpose' technology to be applied at the grassroots to give the stamp of authenticity, purity, and safety to Indian honey for domestic and global consumers. This panel was a powerhouse of credible and eminent scientists from top scientific Indian and International bodies, some of whom are also members of FSSAI's scientific committees.

The experts and IHA unanimously agreed that they should jointly work on a white paper for determining the 'fit for purpose' and implementable scientific techniques and methodologies to test honey at the grass root. It was further suggested that a lab with state-of-art cutting-edge technologies will also be established exclusively for honey testing and should house a bio-bank for different types of authentic honey that are available across the country and world.