Rohit Shishodia
People who consume honey to boost their immunity to fight Covid-19 are being taken for a ride. The honey may well have added sugar and be adulterated with sugar syrup that leads to obesity. This has been informed by Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in its latest investigations' revelations.

Almost all the top brands (except Apis Himalaya which failed this rest too) passed the initial tests of purity, while a few smaller brands failed the tests to detect C4 sugar – call it basic adulteration using cane sugar at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat.

But when the same brands were tested using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) – laboratory tests currently being used globally to check for modified sugar syrups – almost all big and small brands failed. Out of the 13 brands tested, only three passed the NMR test, which was done by a specialized laboratory in Germany. As of August 1, 2020, NMR tests have been made mandatory in India for honey that is meant for export.

The findings revealed that 77 per cent of the samples were found to be adulterated with addition of sugar syrup. Out of 22 samples tested, only five passed all the tests. “Honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed the NMR test. Only 3 out of the 13 brands – Saffola, Markfed Sohna and Nature’s Nectar (one out of two samples) -- passed all the tests,” claim the CSE findings.

“Our research has found that most of the honey sold in the market is adulterated with sugar syrup. Therefore, instead of honey, people are eating more sugar, which will add to the risk of Covid-19. Sugar ingestion is directly linked to obesity, and obese people are more vulnerable to life-threatening infections,” said Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on December 2, 2020, while releasing a new CSE investigation into honey adulteration.

Amit Khurana, program director of CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins team, said: “It shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India. Our concern is not just that the honey we eat is adulterated, but that this adulteration is difficult to catch. In fact, we have found that the sugar syrups are designed so that they can go undetected.”

The CSE experts have called it honeygate and linked it with China.

Citing past year's FSSAI directions to officials about imported golden syrup, invert sugar syrup and rice syrup being used for honey adulteration, Khurana adds: “The three imported sugar syrups named by FSSAI in its directive – golden syrup, invert sugar syrup and rice syrup -- are either not imported in these names or are not indicted for adulteration. Instead, Chinese companies are mostly exporting this syrup as fructose to India. So, why did FSSAI put out what is clearly an erroneous order? We are not certain.”

CSE said that it tracked down Chinese trade portals like Alibaba which were advertising fructose syrup that can bypass tests. It also found that the same Chinese companies that advertised this fructose syrup that can beat C3 and C4 tests also exported to India.

CSE then conducted an undercover operation to find out more. It sent emails to Chinese companies soliciting syrups that could pass tests in India. It received replies that syrups were available and could be sent to India.