Bitter Taste — Fake Honey

Australia's biggest listed honey company and some of the country's largest supermarket chains face accusations of unwittingly selling "fake" honey.

Honey is the world's third most adulterated food product. An investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and ABC 7.30 revealed Australia's biggest supermarket shelves were adulterated, meaning it had been mixed with other substances.

The adulterated samples were all products that blend local and imported honey. Adulterated honey is typically bulked up with sweet substances such as rice or corn syrup and is produced mostly in China. Food fraud is big business internationally, estimated to be a $57 billion-dollar industry.

Tests were done inside a state-of-the-art German lab that specialises in testing honey for fraud. They found almost half the samples selected from Australian supermarket shelves were adulterated — meaning criminal gangs, largely from China, had found ways to cheat the test.

The exclusive report exposed serious flaws in Australia's regulation and monitoring of honey — only 5 per cent of imported honey is tested. The country's second biggest honey producer, Beechworth Honey, spoke out for the first time saying fake honey was threatening the viability of the entire industry.

After the story was published, it led to an immediate investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Aldi supermarket chain pulled all Capilano's Allowrie honey brand off its shelves. Capilano also announced it would help fund a new and improved honey test.