How to recognize fake honey?

Honey is the second most counterfeited food in the world after olive oil. Various sugar syrups and colorants specifically developed for counterfeiting are used in the forgery.

Honey counterfeits still rarely make the news, considering the extent of the problem and its economic significance to the beekeeping industry. It does not help at all that authorities have long been aware of the large-scale counterfeiting of honey coming from outside the EU, without addressing it with the necessary vigor. 

Raising the issue still seems to be the responsibility of honey lovers, and thus we decided to do our part. After reading this, our longest blog post to date, you will know how to better avoid honey fraud and why counterfeiters will be left licking their fingers in the future.

The EU investigated, but consequences were lacking

In the EU-coordinated 'From the Hives' study, a total of 320 honey samples imported from outside Europe were tested between 2021 and 2022. Up to 46% of the samples were suspicious, meaning they may be counterfeit or their origin information is incorrect. Authorities also found in further investigations that some producers altered mixtures after the sample had initially passed laboratory analysis.

Fake honey thrives through tests

Currently used official laboratory methods sound competent at first glance. With the previously mentioned NMR test, the chemical fingerprint of the honey sample is examined. It can be used to draw conclusions about potentially added sugars, the origin of the plants, and the geographical origin of the sample.

The NMR test is supported by microscopy-based pollen analysis, and isotope analysis aims to determine whether sugars from corn, rice, or wheat have been added to the honey. Methods based on liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) can determine whether the honey contains sugars derived from sugar beets, for example.

Authorities and many resellers have relied on the accuracy of test results. Unfortunately, it has become clear that counterfeiters have long been a step ahead, and cheating official testing methods is no problem for them.

For the first time, DNA analysis comes to the rescue

The European Professional Beekeepers Association (EPBA) will organize its own study on honeys sold in Europe in the summer of 2024. This investigation differs from previous ones in that a new method for testing samples was used in honey circles. Instead of comparing individual components contained in honey, the samples were compared to the overall picture of the DNA of authentic honey.

The results revealed from the collected samples unfortunately confirmed that counterfeiting continues and counterfeit products still end up on store shelves. At the same time, the suspicion was reinforced that counterfeiters routinely cheat the official laboratory tests in use.

Worrying results from Europe

For the EPBA study, samples were collected from around Europe. The Estonian Professional Beekeepers Association collected 55 jars of honey from store shelves. 30% of the samples were found to be atypical, meaning they were likely counterfeit.

German beekeepers collected a total of 29 jars labeled as honey from German grocery stores. As a comparison, they obtained one jar directly from a beekeeper. The results were shocking; even 80% of the samples were found to be suspicious, meaning they did not pass the DNA analysis.

The results from Germany were not even among the worst. From the United Kingdom, 30 samples were sent for testing, of which 5 jars were control samples, meaning they were definitely genuine honey. In addition to the five control samples, only one sample passed the test. The remaining 24 samples, or up to 96% of the tested samples, were found to be counterfeit. A similar set was sent from Austria, consisting of 5 control samples known to be genuine honey and 25 samples collected from stores. None of the samples collected from stores passed the DNA analysis, so the percentage of counterfeits was a full 100.

Buy Finnish and you'll eat what you bought

The honeys sold in Finland were certainly not excluded from DNA testing. A total of 56 samples were sent from domestic grocery stores to the same DNA laboratory, of which 17 jars were Finnish honey. A total of 21 samples passed the DNA analysis, but the remaining 35 samples raised suspicions of counterfeiting.

The good news for Finland was that although 62.5% of the samples were found to be counterfeit, none of them were of Finnish origin. So, while there seems to be a problem with dilution and mixing of honeys elsewhere in Europe, in Finland, no sugar syrups were mixed into Finnish honey.

Profitable, unlawful business

Honey fraud is usually carried out by adding colorants and flavors to sugar syrup made from sugar cane, corn, or rice. The goal is to produce a product that mimics the taste and appearance of real honey as closely as possible. To pass current official laboratory tests, real honey is mixed in.

Such sugar syrup disguised as honey can be produced practically without limits. The risk of getting caught is negligible, and the penalties are insignificant compared to the benefits, only a few tons in fines. This has led to organized crime partially shifting from drug trafficking to food counterfeiting.

Fortunately, changes to penalty practices are being considered, but it will take time for them to be implemented. However, financially impactful penalties are not the only thing that needs to change.

Lack of testing and unreliability of results

Beekeepers are also frustrated by the counterfeiting issue because imported honeys are rarely tested for authenticity. Food authorities primarily focus on testing the safety of food products, not their authenticity.

When honey has been officially confirmed as edible in the laboratory using available tests, and no counterfeiting has been detected, the "honey" can be sold without issues as genuine. For example, syrup developed specifically for this purpose can be ordered from China. It matches the sugar profiles and pollen sources closely enough to genuine honey, successfully misleading official testing methods.

Real honey is not cheap, and cheap honey is not real

Honey is consumed globally more than it is produced. Therefore, it should not be possible for genuine honey to be sold below production costs and at discounts.

Suspiciously low prices should always raise alarm bells on the honey shelf! A low price makes a careful consumer grab the cheapest honey jar, but in reality, they have just been tricked into paying multiple times for its contents. The syrup contained in the "honey jar" could have been obtained much cheaper from a shelf a few aisles over in a one-liter container.

However, the buyer of the cheapest "honey" only loses a few euros. The low prices of counterfeit honeys have a much more destructive impact on the profitability of beekeeping. The price obtained from packing houses decreases, as they can replenish their stocks at a bargain price with syrup liquids. Consumers who are shocked by the prices of domestic honey often do not consider that honey production also incurs costs for the beekeeper. For many, it is a livelihood that employs several keepers. If the honest sale of genuine honey is not financially viable, it does not make sense to continue.

DNA analysis gives hope for the future

When the European Professional Beekeepers Association (EPBA) set out to investigate the authenticity of honeys sold in Europe, it had a completely new trump card: The DNA profile of authentic honey, which is practically impossible to counterfeit.

Located in Tartu, Estonia, Celvia is one of the world's first laboratories studying honey DNA. The analysis of DNA is by no means a new invention. It has been used in the pharmaceutical industry for a long time, and at Celvia, it has primarily been used in pregnancy-related gene and embryo research. What is new is that this technique has now been harnessed to verify the authenticity of honey.

The DNA profile of real honey

Real, authentic honey always contains, regardless of the country of origin, a certain amount of the items listed above and in a certain ratio to each other. The samples mainly differ in their botanical compositions and other organisms, which does not significantly change the DNA profile itself.

This makes the DNA profile practically impossible to counterfeit. Unfortunately, the method is so new in honey research that it has not yet been accepted as an official research method. It is estimated that authorization will take a couple of years, so until then, authorities will monitor counterfeits in the old way.

Honey roulette in the grocery store

If identifying real honey is a challenge for authorities, how can an ordinary consumer know what a jar claimed to be honey actually contains?

The safest way is to buy Finnish honey, preferably directly from a familiar beekeeper. If the beekeeper you know has run out of honey jars, the second-best option is to buy domestic honey from the store. Remember to be careful when reading product information! A Finnish honey jar always states Finland as the country of origin, as well as the producer's contact information.

The situation is different for imported honeys. They may initially seem domestic, but they lack precise information about the country from which the honey was collected. Instead of clearly stating the country of origin, it is said that the honey comes from 'the EU area and non-EU countries.' Exaggerated, this could mean, for example, that 20% of the contents of the jar is Austrian and 80% is Chinese 'honey.'

It is contradictory that when honey comes from one country, that country must always be mentioned. But when the jar contains a mixture of honey from several different countries, the countries of origin do not need to be mentioned at all. Only honey counterfeiters have benefited from this, and fortunately, a change is finally coming. Thanks to the so-called breakfast directive coming into force in the EU in the summer of 2026, the percentages of the countries of origin contained in honey mixtures will have to be stated on the honey jar from now on.

Unfortunately, a change in the country of origin labeling alone is not enough. In Finnish grocery stores, honey products that have been identified as counterfeit in DNA analyses are still on sale, as stores and the food authority rely on the laboratory tests that are in use and officially approved. For now, it remains the consumer's responsibility to know what risk they are taking when purchasing honey from the EU and outside the EU.

When real honey is thought to be fake

The appearance cannot determine whether honey is real or fake. For example, a piece of honeycomb in liquid honey does not indicate anything other than that a piece of beeswax has been dropped into a product that looks like honey. Even honey purchased as comb honey may not necessarily be genuine honey. It can be counterfeited by feeding bees sugar syrup, which they pack into the combs like honey.

At this point, it is extremely important to understand that beekeepers who value their bees' work and honey will never sell such counterfeit comb honey! It is true that bees are fed sugar syrup for winter food immediately after the honey is harvested, but this is solely energy intended for the bees' own use. In the spring, the beekeeper marks the frames containing winter food so that they do not end up in the extractor at any point and thus into the honey jar.

Another common confusion related to the appearance of honey is due to its natural tendency to crystallize. The color, taste, and final composition of honey depend on the plants from which the bees have collected the nectar. For example, willowherb honey remains liquid for a long time, while rapeseed honey crystallizes quickly. Without the crystallization pattern of the previous summer's soft honey, honey may crystallize coarsely. At that point, it appears to contain sugar crystals, which leads people to believe that granulated sugar has been mixed into the honey.

According to the Honey Directive, nothing other than another honey can be added to honey. If anything else has been added to honey, it becomes a honey product, and this must be stated on the product label.

The appearance of honey cannot determine whether it is real or fake. Therefore, the consumer has no other option but to find a beekeeper or honey packer whose product content they can trust.

DNA analysis of Voimainen honey

When Celvia requested authentic honey samples from Finnish beekeepers, a jar of Metsätuvan Voimainen honey was also sent. Since the request came in early 2025, honey from the summer of 2024 was sent for DNA testing. The collected samples were needed as reference samples for the official DNA analysis process.

The results took a long time to arrive, which was understandable, as they had a huge number of samples from all over Europe to process. Finally, in the fall of 2025, we received the authentic DNA profile of our own honey to marvel at. And there was indeed a lot to marvel! No wonder the method is considered impossible to counterfeit, as so much different information can be seen from a single DNA profile.

In addition to the crops, the sample shows, for example, if bumblebees and honeybees have visited the same flower. The results that were interesting for the health of the bees were the columns related to viruses, diseases, and possible pests. It was reassuring to see that there was no issue with the bees in that regard.

Sample No. 1 from the year 2024

The content of honey collected from the same hive and even the same nest varies annually, as the weather of each summer affects the flowering of the crops.

Plant percentages of sample number 1:

44% Malpighiales plant order, of which 35% are willows (Salix)

16% A plant genus belonging to the legume family (Fabaceae), of which 14% are clovers (Trifolium)

18% Rosales plant order, of which 11% are brambles (Rubus)

The spring of that harvest season was really warm, and willow was blooming abundantly all around. In a typical spring, bees gather enough willow to survive until the dandelion blooms. Therefore, willow honey usually goes entirely for the bees' own use. This spring, there was so much of it in the hive that it was still plentiful in the combs even in the fall.

Samples number 2 and 3 from the year 2025

In October 2025, we sent two honey samples from the past summer for testing. This time, the results came in about a month.

Plant percentages of sample number 2:

32% A plant genus belonging to the legume family (Fabaceae), of which 28% are clovers (Trifolium)

27% A family of cruciferous plants (Brassicaceae), of which 21% are beneficial cabbages (Brassica)

21% Rosales plant order, of which 19% are brambles (Rubus)

Sample number 2 looked like what we expected from our own honey. Clover, raspberry, and everything tall that blooms along meadows and fields. The same clovers and raspberries were also found in sample number 3, in slightly different proportions.

DNA tests against counterfeits

The predominant feeling about the future of authentic, bee-produced honey is hopeful. However, there is still much to be done in the fight against counterfeits. Without the active involvement of beekeepers, the DNA method would likely never have been implemented for honey. Honey lovers must demand action from authorities, importers, and grocery stores so that customers buying honey know they are purchasing genuine, bee-produced honey.

You can buy Metsätuvan Voimaista, 100% Finnish honey here.