More than 83,000 kg of adulterated honey containing added sugar were seized between April 2019 and March 2020, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced on Monday.
According to the regulations in force, honey cannot contain added sugar to be sold under an authentic label.
Analyzes revealed that 87% of targeted honey samples were genuine, up from 78% in the previous fiscal year.
Some 275 samples were analyzed and carried out on the basis of two types of sampling. Targeted sampling was carried out by the federal agency which collected 127 samples.
The second aspect of the control concerned market surveillance, entrusted to an independent third party for the taking of 148 samples of honey from retailers.
The results of the control showed that of the 127 samples, including 111 imported products, at least 17 did not meet Canadian standards, ie 13.3%. Of these unsatisfactory samples, only one was of Canadian origin.
With respect to market surveillance, the analysis targeted 103 Canadian and 45 imported products. The results revealed that 98% of the cases were satisfactory. Concretely, only three samples, all imported, were declared unsatisfactory.
Tackling food fraud will “protect not only consumers against the purchase of deliberately mislabeled products, but also Canadian food companies, which must compete with non-authentic products,” responded the Minister of Justice. ‘Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, by press release.
“The most recent CFIA results show a drop in the number of fraud cases,” said Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Canadian Honey Council.
In 2019, Canada produced more than 36,000 tonnes of honey worth $ 173 million. Canadian honey exports, meanwhile, totaled nearly $ 54 million, down 31% from 2018.
–
