The great organic honey scam

It costs twice as much as conventional medicine, but it's often just a scam to the detriment of consumers. How to protect yourself.

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Two fraudulent traders in the province of Verona have been reported on charges of commercial fraud: in just one year they managed to sell around a thousand kilograms of honey falsely labeled as organic and actually imported from Romania at very low prices. A scam, and a waste for consumers, widespread in Europe, and especially in Italy: according to reports from the European Parliament, approximately 46 percent of honey samples tested in 20 EU countries, even labeled as organic, were found to be adulterated, with the addition of syrups that were very different from natural honey. 

But why is the organic honey scam so widespread? There are two reasons: it's very convenient and easy. A simple "organic honey" label allows you to sell the product at a price at least double that of a conventionally labeled package. However, some producers are charging as much as €35-40 per kilo for honey labeled as organic.

Secondly, this scam is quite easy, also because the rules, despite very frequent downstream checks, are loose, and it is not difficult to pass off any honey as organic, and then sell it at astronomical prices.

Organic honey must have three characteristics which, in theory, should not be difficult to identify.

A clean environment

The hives must be placed in areas within a radius of approximately 3 kilometres where the main sources of nectar and pollen come from:

Organic honey bees

In organic beekeeping:

  • No synthetic antibiotics are used for bee prevention
  • Only natural treatments are allowed (e.g. oxalic or formic acid against varroa)
  • Le api They are fed their own honey (not sugary syrups, except in regulated emergencies).

Materials

Even when using materials, from hives to wax, organic honey production does not use chemicals.

  • The hives must be made of natural materials
  • The wax used must be organic
  • It is forbidden to use chemicals to disinfect beehives.

Certification

To be defined as "organic", honey must be certified by an authorized body (in Italy for example ICEA or Suolo e Salute) and report on the label:

  • The European organic logo
  • The code of the supervisory body

Authorized bodies in Italy to provide certification

And it is precisely around the fragmented and dispersed licensing market that scams are growing. In Italy, there are about fifteen organizations that can monitor beekeeping companies and their production methods, verify compliance with the required standards, and issue the relevant certifications. The most active organizations are:

  1. ICEA – Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification (IT BIO 006)
  2. CCB – Organic and Biodynamic Product Certifications (IT BIO 009)
  3. Soil and Health (IT BIO 004)
  4. Bioagricert (IT BIO 007)
  5. Valoritalia Srl (IT BIO 015)
  6. ABCERT Srl (IT BIO 013)
  7. Bios Srl (IT BIO 005)
  8. Ecogruppo Italia Srl (IT BIO 008)

In reality, to effectively prevent fraud, Italy should have a single label for national organic honey. This would both better promote quality Italian-made honey and protect consumers from the risk of fake organic products.

But it would also mean dismantling a castle of organisms that survive and profit from the organic honey market (as well as other agricultural products with this characteristic), paid dearly by consumers for its supposed qualities. 

How to distinguish adulterated honey

An adulterated honey (mixed with sugar syrups or coming from less transparent supply chains) is not easy to recognize, because it may have:

  • same color
  • same consistency
  • same flavor

The average consumer cannot recognize organic honey without laboratory analysis.

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