October 17, 2018
Bitter test for honey producers
LOHNET MURRAY INTERVIEW CLICK HERE
A Māori honey producer says a new test for manuka honey isn’t fit for purpose, and it’s threatening the viability of many Māori apiarists.
The Ministry for Primary Industries introduced its science definition for manuka honey exports at the start of the year, and it now wants to extend it for honey sold in New Zealand.
Manuka honey must include four chemical markers found in manuka nectar and one DNA marker.
Lohnet Murray from Kaitaia-based Tai Tokerau Honey says if one of those markers is a fraction off, the whole batch can be deemed non-Manuka.
She says Taitokerau Honey’s product still rates highly under the older NPA or non-peroxide activity standard.
"That honey has come from an area where there is only manuka so this is the crazy thing. It gets sent to a lab and that reads it with an NPA of 15, it has good DHA and good MG, but the actual testing of the DNA brings it down to a non-manuka," Ms Murray says.
She says while larger producers can blend honey in to beat the test, many smaller Māori producers are stuck with honey worth a fraction of what it was selling for last year.
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