The JRC was involved in two coordinated activities to assess the frequency of honey adulteration

Coordinated control plan of 2015-2017

• Timing: 2015-2017
• Samples: 2264 samples from all EU member states plus Norway and Switzerland
• Methods: samples that were compliant with the purity criteria of Tier 1 (organoleptic analysis, electrical conductivity, diastase activity and pollen analysis ) and had a compliant sugar profile were tested by isotope ratio mass spectrometry to detect adulteration with syrups from C₄ plants and C₃  plants
• Outcome: The rate of suspicious honeys was around 14 %. Around 20 % of honeys either declared as blends of EU honeys (19 out of 96), or unblended honeys bearing a geographical reference related to an EU Member State (53 out of 275) or a third country (11 out of 55) were found to be suspicious of containing added sugar. The rate of suspicious honeys was around 10% for blends of EU and non-EU honeys (40 out of 426), blends of non-EU honeys (3 out of 30), and honey of unknown origin (1 out of 11).

Read the full report here

Coordinated action 2021-2022

• Timing: 2021-2022
• Samples: 320 samples taken at EU borders
• Methods: Compared to 2015/2016, a wider range of methds was used. The methods used were  isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA/LC-IRMS), high-performance anion exchange chromatography - pulsed amperometric detector (HPAEC-PAD), liquid chromatography - high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectroscopy
• Outcome: The rate of suspicious samples considerably higher than the one obtained in 2015-17 (14%). The highest absolute number of suspicious consignments originated from China (74%), although honey originating from Turkey had the highest relative proportion of suspicious samples (93%). Honey imported from the United Kingdom had an even higher suspicion rate (100%), likely the result of honey produced in other countries and further blended in the UK before its re-export to the EU.More than half (57%) of the operators had exported honey consignments suspicious of being adulterated with extraneous sugars and more than 60% (66), of the operators imported at least one suspicious consignment.

Read more: Description of the coordinated action