Nov 3, 2020
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed honey sold by several major brands in India has been found adulterated with sugar syrup. Its food researchers selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India to check their purity. They found 77 percent of the samples adulterated with the addition of sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples checked, 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 (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) test”, a CSE study reported.
But Dabur and Patanjali questioned environment watchdog CSE’s claims that honey sold by them are adulterated with sugar syrup, saying that it seems to be motivated and aimed at maligning their brands, as they also insisted that honey sold by them are collected naturally from Indian sources, and packed with no-added sugar or other adulterants. Also, they followed norms and parameters laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for testing honey are fully adhered to.
The two companies believe that it seems to be a plot to defame Indian natural honey industry and manufacturers in a bid to promote processed honey. This is a game plan to replace lakhs of rural farmers and honey growers including Khadi & Village commission channel” with processed/ artificial/ value-added honey makers.
Even Kolkata-based Emami Group, which owns the Zandu brand, said it adheres to all the protocols laid down by the FSSAI in this regard.
Dabur claims it regularly tests the honey sold by the company in the Indian market. Besides, Dabur Honey is also tested for the presence of antibiotics, as mandated by FSSAI, also it is the only company in India to have an NMR testing equipment and is used to test honey regularly. This is to ensure that Dabur Honey is 100 percent pure without any adulteration.
The company also claimed that it does not import any honey/ syrup from China and that its honey is sourced entirely from Indian beekeepers. “Dabur is complying with the 22 parameters… mandated by the FSSAI for testing honey. In addition, Dabur Honey is also tested for the presence of antibiotics, as mandated by the FSSAI.
India exported 59,536.75 MT of natural honey worth Rs. 633.82 crore (USD 88.65 million) in FY 2019-20 to various countries, including the US, Saudi Arab, UAE, Canada, Qatar, as per data from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
According to Expert Market Research, the Indian honey market was worth around Rs. 1,729 crore in 2019. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of about 10 percent between 2020 and 2025 to reach a value of nearly INR 30.6 billion by 2025.