| Abstract: |
Stellenbosch University researchers have caused a buzz in the bee world: they've found a way to combat "honey fraud". Unscrupulous overseas producers are known to save costs by diluting their product with watered-down honey or sugar. This hasn’t yet been detected in South Africa‚ said Professor Marena Manley of the university's department of food science‚ but overseas‚ not only would the consumer be misled‚ but it meant local producers would be unable to compete with the low pricing of adulterated honeys‚ said Manley. Present methods of testing honey for quality‚ origin and trace amounts of sugar were expensive. “There was therefore a need for a fast‚ non-destructive‚ easy-to-use and low-cost classification method to detect if there is adulteration in South African honey. |
