How Food Companies Can Use Benchtop NMR to Fight Back Against Honey Fraud

Honey is a great natural sweetener that's full of nutrients and minerals that are wonderful for your health. High-quality honey is rich in antioxidants and is thought to help improve your cholesterol levels and lower your blood pressure.

However, honey may not be as good for you as you think it is if it isn't authentic. Honey is sometimes mixed with high-fructose corn syrup and other glucose solutions to reduce the cost of the product's production. In fact, according to an analysis of 95 products from local food markets, up to 27% of commercial honey brands have potentially been watered down with sugar cane, corn syrup, or other sugar products.

So how do you know if the honey you're buying is the real deal or has been contaminated, counterfeited, or substituted?

Authentic vs. Contaminated Honey

There are a couple of ways to determine whether your honey's been contaminated or not. These methods won't tell you how your honey has been adulterated, but it will tell you whether or not contamination has taken place.

The first method involves testing with water. Using a glass full of water, drop a teaspoon of honey into the water. Adulterated honey will dissolve in the water. Pure honey will sink to the bottom of the glass in clumps.

The second method is surface spreading. For this test, you can either use your thumb or another surface. Place a drop of honey onto your thumb or the surface you're using. Pure honey sticks to a surface when it's applied and doesn't drip or slide away. Honey that has been adulterated with sugar additives and other glucose solutions will spill or spread because of its runny texture.

Benchtop NMR Spectrometers for Honey Authentication

In cases when it's essential to know not only that your honey has been adulterated but also how it has been adulterated and by how much, benchtop NMR spectrometers are a valuable analytical tool. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is one of the top analytical methods in modern chemistry. Benchtop NMR spectrometers provide food companies and local markets with the ability to determine the authenticity of their honey products in a way that's affordable, easy, and automated. Using automated sampling, food companies can identify the adulterants in their products and avoid selling fraudulent honey to their customers.

With benchtop spectrometers, you can conduct sample preparation in a way that's operator-independent and repeatable. You can also use NMR interpretation software for data acquisition and processing with no calibration standard necessary. Interested in using benchtop spectrometers for honey authenticity and traceability? Contact Nanalysis to learn more about our benchtop spectrometers and NMR applications today.