EU directive against counterfeit honey: This is how Austria protects itself!

EU directive against counterfeit honey: This is how Austria protects itself!

The European Union's new “Breakfast Directive”, which will come into force in January 2025, is intended to ensure more transparency in the honey market. This directive not only requires precise labeling of the country of origin, but also a detailed list of honey components in percent in order to clearly distinguish adulterated honey from real honey. The ORF reported that a recent honey test conducted by the magazine “konkret” produced alarming results – many imported honey products are diluted with glucose syrup, which is no surprise to domestic beekeepers. Johann Mair, an experienced beekeeper from Pasching, explained: “There are many indications that there is something wrong with the honey.” These concerns are supported by the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor, which has been campaigning for this new directive since 2018 and is now seeing success.

Test results are also worrying

As part of the ORF program “konkret”, extensive tests were carried out on more than 30 honey samples from Austrian supermarkets. The first results, presented in December 2024, show that honey is one of the most frequently counterfeited foods. The method of environmental DNA forensics, which is used in only a few laboratories worldwide, is intended to help verify the authenticity of the honey. The economic forensic scientist and beekeeper Mag. Dr. Matthias Kopetzky is expected as an expert on one of the programs to talk about these worrying fakes. The results of these tests, carried out under notary supervision, are ultimately crucial for detecting and combating counterfeits in a market increasingly threatened by new fraud methods, as well beekeepingcenter.at reported.