John Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture, said the directorate, with assistance from the Gauteng Illicit and Counterfeit Goods Unit of the South African Police Service, started at the end of November to inspect products labelled ‘honey-based syrup’ in Gauteng.
These products were red-flagged by increasing complaints nationally. “The problem is that many consumers buy honey for its health properties. Adulterated honey, however, often do not contain any honey, but syrup or sugar water, posing a health risk to especially compromised people suffering from diseases such as diabetes,” Steenhuisen said.
During the first week of the clampdown in Gauteng, 1 059 honey-based items and 388 honey items were found non-compliant according to marking requirements, resulting in two wholesalers receiving fines of R1 500 each.
Steenhuisen said the campaign was being rolled out to other provinces and would be broadened to also include illegal wine.
Len Boucher, former chairperson of the Southerns Beekeeping Association, welcomed the clampdown on fake honey.
“The campaign is well-timed and needed. Fake and adulterated honey is not only damaging to the industry and poses a health risk, but also creates unreasonable expectations from consumers who do not understand why real honey is more expensive than the fake products.”
Boucher pointed out that the problem with adulterated honey was not unique to South Africa. Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, recently announced that there would no longer be honey judging in the World Beekeeping Awards for now, because of the cost and time it took to test for adulteration.
About 45% of honeys were rejected at the awards in Montreal in 2019 for a variety of reasons, including suspected adulteration, whereas 39 out of 145 honeys were withdrawn from the Istanbul congress in 2022 for suspected adulteration. The awards will continue with other categories, including beeswax, mead, innovation and publications.
Boucher’s advice to consumers is to buy honey from local beekeepers with whom they had built a trust relationship.
When buying honey from shops, they should be suspicious if the honey is substantially cheaper than the other products, and when the labels do not comply with required standards, such as the beekeeper’s registration details, address and contact information.
Other indications that the honey is not pure include labelling that states that it was ‘manufactured’, and phrases like ‘honey-based syrup’ or ‘honey-flavoured syrup’.
Christo Conradie, stakeholder engagement, market access and policy manager at South Africa Wine, welcomed the clampdown on the illegal alcohol trade, as it posed health threats and negatively impacted wine sales.
He said illegal alcohol sales had increased significantly since the alcohol bans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the industry feared that the illegal alcohol trade might grow further as an unintended consequence of above-inflation excise taxes.
