HIGH RISE HONEY!-WHAT IS IT?

Can any one imagine producing honey among the concrete jungles of vast sprawling cities spread all over this world in different countries? Possibly the answer may be a resounding no! But Australia is in the forefront to debunk this conventional belief and it has been shown time and again that better quality honey can be produced in urban townships than that in rural areas! In cities like Sydney there appears to be great enthusiasm by the citizenry to go for honey production on their roofs and amazingly the fear about bee sting does not bother them a wee bit. According to Beehive experts honey bees do not harm humans as they are least interested in them and gentle handling will ensure safe honey extraction from their hives. It appears the infectious enthusiasm about urban honey production seems to be spreading fast to other cities in the world like London, Paris etc and soon Urban Honey Beehives may become a parallel activity to urban agriculture and gardens which are growing day by day. Here is a take on this interesting phenomenon which deserves kudos from all nature loving people of the world. 

It might seem counter-intuitive but cities are perfect for beekeeping, Burton says. "Urban bees tend to do better than country bees because people have so many exotic trees and flowers in their gardens, so there's always something flowering in the city," she says. "In the country most of the land is used for farming, which means forage tends to be less diverse." In the cities however, even hives within a few kilometres of one another can produce honey with distinctly different tastes. The honey Burton harvests from hives in Elizabeth Bay, for example, is sweet and floral, whereas the honey from Fassnidge's hives in Paddington – less than two kilometres away – has a richer, earthier flavour. Doug Purdie, who splits his days between a marketing job and his real love, the Urban Beehive business, says interest in urban beekeeping has leapt significantly in recent years. "When I started [three years ago], there were no hives on restaurants or cafes. There were in Melbourne but as far as I know, the first in Sydney was the one we put on the Swissotel," he says. Today, Purdie and his business partner manage 55 hives in Sydney, including at Cornersmith cafe in Marrickville, Chez Dee in Potts Point, Wine Library in Woollahra and Berta in the city.

It may be logical to expect such initiative from consumers who are fed up of commercial agriculture because of safety fears and adverse environmental impact, especially on the weather conditions that contribute to global warming. Locavore movement which is spreading fast these days encourages urban beehive operations as the honey produced will have minimum carbon foot print. China and India are the biggest producers of honey and recent scandals about antibiotic tainted and pesticide contaminated honey from China  are not easy to forget for a long time to come. Here are three cheers for the adventurous, courageous and nature loving citizens living in different cities of the world for their efforts to save honey bees and coax them to give high quality and safe honey year in and year out!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"COUNTERFEIT" FOODS-A GLOBALLY ROARING BUSINESS!

Cheating the consumer for making a fast buck is a universal phenomenon, whether in India, China or the US. While consumers can absorb occasional sub-par quality products marketed by some unscrupulous players, it assumes critical dimension when such foods can pose serious health hazards. For example adding water to milk is not directly dangerous
but concocting a milk look alike product made from urea, detergents etc can be really reprehensible and indefensible.
It is interesting that most risky foods churned out by fraudsters posing health risks are more prevalent in developing countries like India while counterfeit foods with doubtful quality are seen more in developed countries. This may probably due to more efficient surveillance and modern infrastructure seen in wealthy countries. According to a recent study economic fraud is more prevalent globally with high priced products like olive oil, saffron, honey etc though mass consumed products do not lag very much behind. Here is an informative piece of report on the subject.  

"Some fear higher world food prices are making food counterfeiting the next big global trend. Counterfeit food is a way to steal millions and put food safety at extreme risk. Obviously, anyone willing to rip off valued brands or products to manufacture counterfeit food outside of any the regulation of any country does not give a rip about food safety. Interpol Police have recently turned up candy bards, fish, cheese, and tomato sauce—all phony—foods that could have ended up in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has its own police force for tackling fraudulent foods and drugs. Counterfeit drugs get most of the attention. The World Bank says consumers pay $30 billion annually for fake drugs with Africa being the hardest. Estimates for how much consumers pay for fake food are a little more fluid. At last month's 9th Annual Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection Summit held in Midtown West, NY, a fact sheet from DuPont said counterfeiting cost U.S. businesses $200 billion to $250 billion annually, affecting 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies. Food and beverages are only a slice of that, of course, but consider that Russia has documented $3.3 billion in annual losses due just to counterfeit vodka, the total for food and beverage products would probably be staggering".

If the above report is to be believed the cost of counterfeiting branded foods and drugs is staggering with many major brand owners suffering financially from this under-ground activities of fraudsters. More concerned should be the consumers who are cheated out of their hard earned money by enticing them to buy cheaper foods. Can this criminal activity ever be stopped? Probably not as many experts believe that it would be a logistical nightmare if taken up seriously and it is impossible to eliminate frauds completely. A possible option could be to increase the severity of punishment meted out to the food fraudsters such a way it has a strong deterrent effect on those contemplating committing such frauds.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

BOTTULISM POISONING- HOW CRITICAL IT IS?

Food poisoning by bacteria is occurring with sickening regularity in almost all parts of the world, though such incidences are more accurately documented in the western world. Whether it is the greater immunity enjoyed by the population in poorer countries against food-borne pathogenic infection or it is lack of proper documentation very few poisoning episodes are reported from these countries. It is but natural that many wealthy countries raise their guard against food poisoning through elaborate safety regimes with high tech diagnostic facilities put in place at great cost. Recently there was a food poisoning scare due to botulism, a rare occurrence these days when canning as a food preservation method is not practiced widely. Here are a few bits of information about the dangers posed by the dreaded bacteria Clostridium botulinum, an anaerobic organism found in improperly canned food products. 

"1. Food borne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin and is often associated with home-canned foods that have been improperly processed. Ingesting botulism toxin can lead to illness within a few hours- to days. Food borne botulism is often caused from home-canned foods with low acid content such as asparagus, green beans, beets and corn.
2. Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with the bacterium. Wound botulism can be prevented by promptly seeking medical care for infected wounds and by not using contaminated injectable drugs.
3. Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. Honey can contain spores of the botulinum bacteria and has been a source of infection for infants. Children less than 12 months old should not be fed honey. Generally, honey is safe for people one year of age and older.


The classic symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin. If untreated, these symptoms may progress to cause paralysis of the arms, legs, trunk and breathing muscles. In food borne botulism, symptoms generally begin 12 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as six hours or as late as 10 days later".

Food canning has survived in countries like the US in spite of many new technologies emerging during the last 3 decades. Canning is also practiced by many house holds under less than optimal conditions and most cases of botulism are reported from this sector. It is reported that in the US, on an average, about 145 cases of botulism occur each year but only 15 percent is due to ingestion of improper foods while 65 percent are infant botulism, rest being wound botulism. Recent studies in the US also indicate that outbreaks of food borne botulism involving two or more people occur almost every year and are usually caused by eating improperly processed home-canned foods. Utmost precaution against botulism whether food borne or from other sources is necessary to avoid unnecessary fatalities. In most developing countries more attention is focused on Clostridium tetani which causes a great number of infectious episodes through wounds, especially caused by rusted iron materials like nails, implements, knives etc.and many urban children are immunized against this infection during early days of their life. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD ADULTERATION-A UNIVERSAL THREAT TO CONSUMERS

The hapless citizens in India can take solace from a recent scholarly report about fraudulent practices adopted by manufacturers of foods world over to get economic benefits at the expense of the consumer. One is familiar with the famous saying of one of the past prime ministers of India describing corruption as universal and not confined to India. Same appears to be true with food adulteration also. It is surprising that the fraudsters are always one step ahead of the safety agencies when it comes to detecting adulteration and their techniques are increasingly becoming more and more sophisticated with time. Food frauds literally constitute a high tech industry because of the enormous economic gains inherent in adulteration. Interestingly costlier the food product, more incentive is available for evolving appropriate methods to mimic the original product with cheap alternatives.Here is a gist of the report that elaborates on economic frauds perpetrated in the US based on reliable data base. 

"Olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee and apple juice are the seven most likely food ingredients to be targets for intentional or economically motivated adulteration of food, or food fraud, according to analysis of the first U.S. public database created to compile information on risk factors for food fraud published in the Journal of Food Science. The database was created by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and provides baseline information to assist interested parties in assessing the risks of specific products. It includes a total of 1,305 records for food fraud based on a total of 667 scholarly, media and other publicly available reports. Food fraud is a collective term that encompasses the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain. A more specific type of fraud is the fraudulent addition of non-authentic substances or removal or replacement of authentic substances without the purchaser's knowledge for economic gain of the seller. According to the authors of the paper, food fraud may be more risky than traditional threats to the food supply because the adulterants used in these activities often are unconventional and designed to avoid detection through routine analyses. "The vast majority of food fraud is primarily technical and economical," said John Spink, associate director with the anti-counterfeiting and product protection program at Michigan State University. "However, there are some cases where there can be serious health consequences as illustrated when melamine was added to infant formula and pet food in order to falsify the level of protein content in these products."

When it comes to food adulteration no other country can beat India because this is a country where every one has unlimited freedom to indulge in such activities with no possibility of retribution. Though food laws that exist are comparable to international ones, there is very little activity at the ground level to monitor or detect adulterated foods in the market or punish the guilty. Milk is mentioned as one of the top adulterated products but can any country beat the ingenuity of the Indian fraudsters in evolving a milk completely without a cow or a buffalo, using ingredients like detergents, urea, cheap oil etc that competes with genuine milk in the market with complete impunity? Of course Chinese may be providing close competition by using the deadly Melamine to increase protein values in milk for economic gains! Saffron is another commodity that attracts fraudsters like the honey beckoning the bees! Consumers are invariably advised by well meaning pundits that they should go for branded foods marketed by established food manufacturers but it is like asking people to eat cake if bread is not affordable! Besides almost all commodities that do not undergo any significant are not available in the branded format from reputed industry players. There does not appear to be any lasting solution to this vexed problem. Stringent punishment to proven fraudsters in double quick time, if made the hall mark of the food safety regime, may see a decline in adulteration cases significantly. A separate and dedicated food fraud court stream under the judiciary for fast tracking such cases may also have a deterrent effect.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A BACTERIOCIN FROM HONEY? NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Honey has been used since time immemorial for many therapeutic use and the exact mechanism as to how this natural plant derived product can achieve all the properties it is claimed to have is still not very clear. The fact that it has high sugar content especially the low molecular types, glucose and fructose, gives a clue that the "osmotic pressure" of the product might be responsible for the antibacterial activity attributed to it. However there are other unusual properties associated with Honey which makes it a unique natural nutraceutical. Its low water activity of about 0.6, low pH in the range of 3.2 to 4.5, ability to chelate free iron, slow release of Hydrogen Peroxide, presence of Methylglyoxal, all combine together to make honey a super food that can preserve itself and protect humans from bacterial pathogens. Presence of many antioxidants like chrysin, pinobanksin, vitamin C, catalase enzyme, pinocembrin further makes honey a formidable health promoting food. If honey was known to humans for the last 10000 years why is that it has recently captured attention of scientists in the US which is one of the top 3 honey producing countries in the world? In their relentless efforts to get a deeper insight into honey of different varieties, these scientists were able to stumble upon a new Bacteriocin, the newly emerging protein based antibiotics, with vast potential for use by agro-food industry. Here is a take on this latest development in the honey front.

"Randy Worobo, associate professor of food microbiology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, and his lab members tested more than 2,000 strains of bacteria from eight types of honey from the United States and New Zealand. One of them stood out. "In sunflower honey from South Dakota, we identified a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis the biological control known to organic gardeners as 'Bt' — which was effective against common food-borne pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria behind the recent deadly cantaloupe outbreak," said Worobo. "This Bt strain was intriguing, because it had both strong antibacterial and strong antifungal activity." In analyzing the compounds produced by the bacteria, they found one with strong antibacterial activity that they designated as thurincin H. They recognized it as a bacteriocin, a common class of antimicrobials that bacteria produce to compete against other microbes. But compared with the some 40 known bacteriocins, it is unique: It is coded in the bacterial DNA as a unit containing three identical copies of the same bacteriocin gene".

Bacillus thuringensis has been in the news recently for all wrong reasons as its genes were commercially exploited by the Genetic Engineering scientists to make transgenic cotton and a number of other plant crops to make the latter resistant to field pests. However this humble organism, especially its spores has served the organic food industry admirably well for use in place of chemical pesticides. There are many strains of a particular microorganism with minor variations in their properties and B.thuringensis isolated by the US scientists was found to contain a natural peptide based antibiotic that is active against both bacterial pathogens like Listeria and virulent forms of E.coli. There are at present over 30 bacteriocins derived from different sources and there is hope that these natural peptide containing antibiotics will eventually replace other dual purpose antibiotics now being used in food industry saving the world from the dangers posed by the new strains of antibiotic resistant pathogens.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE "GM" HONEY-REALLY?

With demand rising because of its supposed health benefits, Honey is an important commodity traded across the world. Though its chemical composition is almost similar to sucrose, the sweetness comes from Fructose and Glucose occurring in 38.5:31.0 ratio. However its value as a health promoting food is attributed to two anti-bacterial substances, Hydrogen Peroxide generating enzyme system and Methyl Glyoxal, besides presence of antioxidants such as Ascorbic acid, Chrysin, Pinobankskin, and Pinocembrin. The old Ayurvedic medicinal system of India has accorded very high place for Honey in its treatment regimes of a number of human ailments. Quality of honey depends more or less on the nature of nectar collected by the Bees and can vary significantly. Honey can even be poisonous if the Bees collect nectar from poisonous flowers. It is in this context that one has to view the recent controversy in Europe, surrounding Honey products generated from flowers of GM plants. Here is a take on this issue.

"Honey that contains traces of pollen from genetically modified crops needs special authorization before it can be sold in Europe, the European Union's top court said Tuesday, in a judgment that could have widespread consequences on the bloc's policy on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The ruling from the European Court of Justice came after several Bavarian beekeepers demanded compensation from their government for honey and food supplements that contained traces of pollen from genetically modified maize.The beekeepers had their hives close to fields where the Bavarian government was growing Monsanto's MON 810 maize for research purposes. The EU has strict guidelines on authorizing and informing consumers about foods containing GMOs – a policy that has caused problems for producers of genetically modified seeds such as U.S.-based Monsanto Co. that are used to much laxer rules in other parts of the world".

China, Argentina, Turkey, USA, Ukraine and Mexico are the top producers of Honey and the entire world depends on imports from these countries for meeting the demand for this product. Of course there are internationally agreed standards for Honey and the world trade is governed by these prerequisites. The Chinese supply of Honey made by Bees treated with antibiotics through third world countries to Europe and the US was in the eye of a storm last year, though the culprit country got away with its brazen illegal activities without receiving a rap on its knuckles, probably because of its economic clout! The latest controversy about GMO tainting of Honey is not going to die down soon because of the tight regulations in EU requiring labeling of GM foods. It is true that contamination of Honey with GM substances was an unwitting act beyond the control of the Beekeepers who are located near fields where GM crops are cultivated. Real possibility of such accidental contamination was responsible for the campaign against GM foods by the antagonists and till such times the GM foods are universally accepted or they are compulsorily mandated to declare on the label, it is not correct to allow cultivation of GM crops.

V.H.POTTY

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http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

HONEY LAUNDERING-DISTORTION OF WORLD TRADE!

It is common knowledge that healthy bees give safe quality honey. The skewed attitude on the part of honey processors to be smug in the feeling that good processing technology can convert even bad quality honey into good products is fraught with dangerous implications. Food industry, managed well, employing qualified food technologists, will never subscribe to the above view and it is a universally accepted truth that only good quality feed material can give high quality end product. When it comes to international trading in processed foods quality and safety can never be compromised and it is only to ensure smooth trade between countries that various safety certification procedures have been evolved. That China, whether with the connivance of the government or without the knowledge of the authorities, happens to be a source of adulterated and contaminated foods, is a fact that cannot be denied outright and "Honey Laundering" is another blot on the credentials of its industry. Look at the way Chinese does this "circus" to hoodwink the world!

"This is a serious issue because China has a monumental problem with its honey industry. A bee epidemic in China several years ago led beekeepers there to use an antibiotic that the U.S. FDA has banned in food and that has been linked to DNA damage in children. And as FSN observes, though China has a state-of-the-art honey processing industry, its beekeeping has not kept up -- resulting, for example, in some Chinese honey being contaminated with lead from the use of improper storage containers. Even worse, Chinese honey brokers have been known to create counterfeit product made of "a mix of sugar water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery [a type of unrefined sugar], barley malt sweetener or other additives with a bit of actual honey." A label is slapped on the container and the adulterated honey is shipped through another country -- for the most part, India -- before finally making its way to the US. Much of this came out two years ago during a major government investigation into "honey laundering" (that's when I first heard the term). But the resulting arrests didn't do much to halt the illegal activities. For all of the above reasons, honey from India is already banned in the European Union, and it's supposed to be illegal to import food into the U.S. that's been banned in other countries. However, the FDA response has been muted. A representative told FSN that the agency "would not know about honey that has been banned from other countries," but experts and other federal agencies believe that's because the FDA refuses to look. Indeed, the FDA appears to have adopted the policy the Pentagon just dropped: Don't ask, don't tell. And it's not just outside experts who are alarmed at FDA's lackadaisical approach to honey laundering. FDA is supposed to be working with U.S. Customs officials to crack down on this practice. Yet, according to FSN, Customs investigators claim that the cooperation is more on paper than in practice and that the FDA continues to be the weak link. They say the FDA either doesn't have the resources to properly do the job or is unwilling to commit them. ICE and the border patrol can and do go after the honey launderers by enforcing the anti-dumping and tariff violation laws. But protecting consumers from dangerous honey, identifying it as adulterated and therefore illegal for importation, falls to the FDA. And many of its enforcement colleagues say the food safety agency doesn't see this as a priority"

While the antibiotic tainted Honey was detected in many markets around the world, the recent finding that "artificial" honey made from sugar is being traded raises more concerns and it is a shame that the source of such products has been traced to China. It is understandable that honey producers may have to use antibiotics to treat sick bees to protect their business from ruin but this is a practice not accepted by the world community considering the risks of development of resistance to antibiotics by the humans. But cheating the consumers through corrupt practices like making and selling artificial honey claiming it to be genuine must be condemned with no uncertain terms. This is all the more reprehensible considering that Chinese honey makers or brokers are in nexus with other lumpen elements in about a dozen "decent" countries for marketing their products through them under their country label. It is imperative for countries like the US to stop this charade to protect their citizens from such a fraud, not withstanding its "love" for China!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"HONEY" ANTIBIOTICS!- THE FSSAI'S TEPID RESPONSE

Recent uproar about antibiotic tainted honey seems to have opened up a Pandora's box and many culprits responsible for this fraud have been apprehended in Europe and the US. While China was blamed for this sorry episode of spreading honey products produced by treating the bees with antibiotic drugs, commonly used in treating human diseases, India was also implicated because of the presence of four types of antibiotics in honey marketed in this country. Whether these products were of Chinese origin or produced within India can at best be a matter of speculation because of the total apathy shown by the safety agencies responsible to prevent such episodes. Here is a take on the response by FSSAI to the reports about tainted honey which is nothing but prevarication and shirking of responsibility.

"The permitted levels of antibiotics for honey in India are almost equivalent to international levels, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India asserted in a statement issued here Wednesday. 'In the matter of admissibility of antibiotics in honey, safety standards in India are similar to those in the European Union, Codex Alimentarius (collection of internationally recognized food safety standards) and the US - where they are completely prohibited,' the statement said. It said that standards for honey have been prescribed under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules (1955), which mention limits for different categories like sucrose and fructose-glucose ratio. Last month, the Centre for Science and Environment, a voluntary group, revealed that leading Indian and foreign brands of honey have high levels of antibiotics".

While the public would have liked to hear assurance from this bureaucrat dominated body, what they got was quoting of the rules under PFA! No one disputed the fact that Indian standards are on par with those enunciated by Codex Commission but by not taking action through country wide investigation, seizure of tainted honey and punishing the culprits, the Authority seems to have washed of its hands through the above bland press release, not worth a dime. Fortunately honey consumption in India is so low that even if antibiotic containing honey is marketed in the country it is unlikely to have any major impact. Of course this does not absolve neither those indulging in this practice nor the safety agency that appears to be a silent spectator, of the responsibility for this fraud.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

HONEY "TAINTING"-ANOTHER "FRAUD" UNDER SCRUTINY

Presence of antibiotics residues in human foods is an issue exercising the minds of food safety authorities world over because of fear of resistance by many pathogens to the action of antibiotics taken for combating many serious infectious diseases. Animal food industry is often found guilty of practicing indiscriminate administration of antibiotics to the animals to ensure safety of their products till they reach the consumers. But presence of antibiotics in honey, as reported recently in products originating from China has raised alarm signals as such practices are unheard of in the past.

"The Food and Drug Administration has just announced that it seized 64 drums of tainted honey from a Philadelphia distribution center last week. According to FDA sources, the honey was imported from China, and contained the potent anti-biotic "Chloramphenicol" which could lead to serious illness or death. Food safety specialists say that the anti-biotic was likely used to treat diseased hives – which is not legal in the US. According to the World Trade organization, China is the leading exporter of honey. Dr. Donald Schaffner is a food safety expert with Rutgers University. He says the general increase of Chinese food products sold in America poses some risk to consumers":

As China is a leading exporter of Honey in the world, such unethical practices will raise doubts about the bonafides of many other products exported by this country. The common concern being raised about the safety of Chinese food products probably could have prompted the FDA of USA to set up its safety monitoring offices in China last year. How far these safety out posts there will be able to get any insight into Chinese production and processing practices remains to be seen.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com