NZ Manuka Honey Standards Must Meet Expectations

28 August 2017

NZ Manuka Honey Standards Must Meet Consumer True to Label Expectations

Consumers expect that when they buy a jar of honey labelled as manuka then the honey inside should be true to the label, and like the international CODEX standard advocates, derived wholly or mainly from manuka plants, according to a recent consumer survey commissioned by leading supplier and exporter, Airborne Honey.

The 1,253 shoppers surveyed earlier this year across 58 tastings at 43 New Zealand supermarkets were also asked what quantity of manuka honey should be in a jar of blended manuka honey - 68 % said they would expect that at least 50 % of the contents should come from manuka, 80% of respondents thought it should be at least 40% and 90% said greater than 30%.

Managing Director, Peter Bray said customers in key export markets, stung by counterfeit honeys and mislabelling, have voiced their strong expectation that manuka honey from New Zealand should adhere to CODEX standards which they recognise as the authentication benchmark.

The Codex Alimentarius states that "honey may be designated according to floral or plant source if it comes wholly (meaning almost entirely) or mainly (meaning predominantly) from that particular source and has the organoleptic, physicochemical and microscopic properties corresponding with that origin”.
“It’s pretty clear that if consumers expect more than 30% of a blended honey to come from the plant source on the label then for a monofloral honey like manuka they expect a lot more. The lowest possible interpretation of the Codex standard is 50% (mainly) and the EU requirement is for the content to be "almost entirely" i.e. close to 100% from the plant source,” Mr Bray said.

“The manuka honey standard the government is working on to identify the unique manuka identifiers, and the UMF Honey Association definition, fail to address consumer expectations or CODEX requirement that the honey be wholly or mainly from manuka,” Mr Bray said. “The UMF acronym stands for Unique Manuka Factor which is based on the compound Methylglyoxal (MG). MG was believed to be unique to Manuka and promoted as having therapeutic properties. Methylglyoxal is not unique to Manuka Honey and does not deliver a therapeutic benefit when ingested.”
[Scoop note: The UMF Honey Association has replied to these claims. See below.]

Airborne which has built a reputation over 107 years for supplying honest, undamaged and traceable honey, adheres to CODEX standards to deliver quality honey that meets the market expectations for being true to label and is advocating for New Zealand to adopt the proven quality assurance verification system.

“We want to lead the world in quality, integrity and championing the rights of the consumer so that we can grow our export markets for this highly sought after premium food product. We’ve got the opportunity to implement a manuka honey standard that is worthy of trust and the loyalty of the legions of consumers and customers who are converts to New Zealand manuka honey. Let’s give them the real deal.”

ends

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[UMF Honey Association reply]

This [paragraph noted above] is wrong.

UMF is a quality mark. The UMF grading system has two components which are expressed on any UMF honey product: the label claim that it is genuine Mānuka honey and a number which represents the unique signature compounds characteristic of this honey which ensure purity and quality. These include the key signature markers: Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal. The UMF grading system is not based solely on the compound Methylglyoxal. This combination of markers provides a way of testing for product authenticity and is what currently sets the UMF grading system apart from anything else.

The UMF Honey Association does not promote MG as having therapeutic properties.

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