A New Zealand company pleaded guilty to charges of adding artificial chemicals to their Manuka honey in order to charge a higher price for it.
New Zealand Food Safety filed a lawsuit against Evergreen Life Ltd after the company recalled 18 of its products back in 2016 by the Ministry for Primary Industries. Interest for honey, which is believed to have health and cosmetics benefits, has been growing comprehensively, particularly for manuka honey, gathered from the blooms of plants local to New Zealand and Australia.
Various types of the plant develop in different parts of the world yet they don’t deliver the blooms required for the honey, making manuka costly, with a small jar selling for up to a few hundred dollars.
Manuka is considered to have better antibacterial properties than other honey because it naturally contains an omega acid called DHA and an antacid known as MGO.
See also: Manuka honey is killing every kind of bacteria scientists throw at it, even the super-bugs
Evergreen had been allegedly adding synthetic chemicals to increase the levels of the anti-bacterial agents, allowing the company to sell the honey at a higher price, according to the public-service Radio New Zealand. Sentencing in the Evergreen case is still expected.
New Zealand ranks 14th in the world for volume of honey exported and second in terms of value, according to data from New Zealand’s Trade and Enterprise government agency.
Source: www.reuters.com
