Unnaturally high cane sugar levels were behind the New
Zealand Food Safety Authority holding a $1 million honey
order being exported from Timaru last month.
Honey Valley managing director Steve Lyttle told the
Timaru Herald his production team had sent samples
to Germany for testing and when the results came back
"suggesting slightly unnatural levels", he contacted the
authority.
The abnormality may be due to beekeepers feeding cane sugar
to hives over winter, and not stopping early enough before
harvesting.
It had been rumoured the order was seized over an issue with
the honey's unique manuka factor (UMF), which indicates
certain strains' antibacterial properties.
However, Mr Lyttle said the honey had not been seized and
that a hold had been put on processing it while the authority
investigated. As well, the honey showed "very good UMF
activity".
He expected it would take several weeks before the authority
could say whether the honey was suitable for sale.
"It could simply be a testing problem, but our company's
policy is to play it safe and we are ultra-conservative with
our testing approach."
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.