The syrupy liquid that honeybees produce from plant nectar is called honey. It can be found in a variety of forms and is a common ingredient in many meals.
The body's energy levels are maintained by consuming honey. The chance of getting illnesses like cancer is reduced even by regular honey consumption. Because of this, honey is used in Ayurvedic treatments.
Patients with diabetes often use honey in tea and coffee as a substitute for sugar. A new baby is initially given a drop of honey to sip in their Annaprasan even in Indian families.
However, in today's world of adulteration, how poison is being sold to you as nectar-like honey. Most people believe there won't be any adulteration in honey if it comes from a respected seller.
The results of a lab test that Zee News did on a number of well-known national brands of honey are alarming.
Two samples of the most popular honey in the country were taken from the market. The most well-known brand, Dabur, provided one of those samples. The brand of honey in these samples is unclea,r since they were not sent to the laboratory in brand-specific packaging or with brand-specific labelling.
The most reliable laboratory for testing, the National Dairy Development Board's Center for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, located in Anand, Gujarat, received the samples. Each of the 40 tests required for honey sales in India had to be passed by the lab-tested samples.
Three honey samples from two various brands were sent for analysis. And one specific parameter made both samples ineffective. The honey from both companies had more than double the permitted level of a particular component.
The sample of honey from Dabur had 176.57 mg of HMF, according to the analysis. According to the established norms, this amount should never be more than 80 mg. In the second Dabur sample, HMF was discovered to be present in 97.250 mg. A Shree Ji Honey sample from a different brand also failed the test because it had 135.16 mg of HMF in it.
Understand HMF.
Some candies include an organic compound known as HMF. Up to 15 mg of HMF per kilogram is commonly present in pure and fresh honey. HMF is found in the majority of breads, bakery goods, and dairy products in addition to honey. According to international standards, there shouldn't be more than 40 mg of HMF in every kilogram of honey. For honey produced in warmer areas, this amount should be less than 80 mg per kg.
The HMF content increases when.
Honey has higher HMF when, in accordance with the National Centre for Biotechnology Information in America:
- During processing, honey has been overheated.
- Honey needs to be moister.
- The way honey is stored is incorrect.
- In order to add sugar, honey has been altered to resemble sugar syrup.
- Honey has been kept in a metal jar.
How damaging is it?
Furthermore, the adulteration can be lethal. due to the high quantities of HMF in honey, which can also cause cancer. Humans can only absorb 30 to 150 mg of HMF daily, according to numerous studies. Cancer, however, can develop if you consume more HMF each day than this.
HMF has the potential to cause significant injury to various organs, especially the intestines, liver, and kidneys. HMF may cause cellular plasticity. In other words, it has the capacity to transform cancerous cells from regular body cells. Gene mutations brought on by an overabundance of HMF can alter your ancestry.
In December 2020, the NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) made a big announcement regarding the branded honey sold in India. According to CSE, 13 of India's largest brands, including Dabur, were found to be selling honey that was contaminated with sugar syrup. To evaluate its purity, CSE researchers selected 13 brands of processed honey sold in India. In this analysis, it was found that 77% of the samples contained sugar syrup.
A CSE investigation found that samples of honey from well-known brands including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, and Hitkari failed the test. Adulteration of branded items was found after CSE sent these samples to Germany's Bruker Biospin Lab for a sophisticated test. However, CSE discovered that honey had been tampered with three years prior. Even at that time, Dabur adamantly refused to accept that its honey had ever been tampered with.
We are in the era of adulteration, nothing healthy in our plate, even vegetables we eat use excess herbicides, insecticides etc, drinking water we drink is mineralised, and we are surrounded by a deadly environment of polluted air, water, and food. if we don't have a healthy diet we want to pay for it in the future.
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