| Honey is created from the nectar that bees collect from flowering plants. Corn syrup is created by enzymatically breaking down corn starch. Honey is a complex mixture of sugars. Corn syrup is a complex mixture of sugars. Honey is expensive. Corn syrup is cheap. |
| Can you guess what this is leading up to? |
| You got it. Some folks actually consider adding cheap High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) to expensive honey in order to stretch their profit margins! While it's not a health issue, it is fraud, and the FDA for one takes a dim view of misrepresenting food product purity to the American consumer. If it says "100% Pure Honey" and you're paying top dollar for "100% Pure Honey" then you ought to be getting "100% Pure Honey". |
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| The good news is that isotopically, honey and HFCS are worlds apart. The carbon isotope ratio of honey averages about -25 while that for HFCS is about -10. Because of the great difference between isotope values, the isotope ratio analysis makes a very sensitive tool for measuring the purity of honey. A mixture of half honey, half HFCS would have an isotope value halfway inbetween the two - about -17.5. Smaller additions alter the honey value less. A 20% addition would end up 20% of the way down the scale at about -22. And so on. |
| Carbon SIRA test of Honey = $40 |
| The precision of the measurement and the natural variations in honey values prevent us from being absolutely sure of an adulteration of less than about 10%. BUT we have another card up our sleeve. |
| Honey contains other components besides the sugars. Protein for example occurs at about 1% concentration in honey and is a product of the bee which is feeding on the honey and nectar. The protein isotope value is very close to the honey value. When HFCS is added to the honey, the isotope value of the total sugar mixture changes - but not the protein! We can extract the protein from honey and measure it's isotope value separately. If it doesn't agree with the total honey measurement, something has been added. Using this additional measurement, we can extend the sensitivity to an adulteration level of about 5%. |
| Carbon SIRA test of Honey-Protein = $70 |
| Businesses that buy large amounts of honey from producers either local or foreign depend on the carbon isotope measurement to insure the quality of their product. But large scale honey buyers aren't the only ones that need to be wary of rippoffs. We've seen jars of honey at roadside stands that had no more honey in them than that which leaked out of a piece of decorative honeycomb placed in the jar! |
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