Surveillance and enforcement actions by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) prevented nearly 12,800 kg of adulterated honey, valued at close to $77,000, from entering the Canadian market, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced today in releasing results of targetted testing by CFIA.
Under Canadian law, honey is a standardized product and cannot contain added sugars; otherwise it is considered adulterated and is not allowed to be sold as authentic honey in Canada.
Targetted testing by CFIA in 2018 found that 78% of the 240 samples, collected from across Canada, were authentic honey, including 100% of Canadian honey sampled. The remaining samples found the presence of added sugars.The findings are not necessarily representative of the amount of honey adulteration in the marketplace overall, because the sampling was targeted to focus on risk areas (for example, establishments with a history of non-compliance, gaps in preventative controls, or unusual trading patterns).
Testing honey for authenticity helps protect consumers from deception and supports a fair markeplace for all. Regular testing of honey by CFIA looks for the presence of sugar cane and corn syrup, while this testing also included looking for rice syrup and beet sugar syrup in honey using a new scientific testing method.
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