The two chemicals are supposed to occur naturally in manuka honey and more active honey earns higher prices.
Evergreen Life, which Company Office records show is owned by sole director and shareholder Hyung Soo Lee, said it would consult with its lawyer before making any comment.
New Zealand honey exports are on the rise – soaring 41% to $285 million in 2015 driven by demand for manuka honey that is valued for its health benefits.
But the industry remains concerned that its goal of hitting $1.2 billion in annual exports by 2028 remains under threat by widespread faking and adulteration of non-active manuka honey as active.
Manuka honey is only produced in NZ from the nectar of the native plant Leptospermum scoparium.
The industry said the Primary Industries Ministry’s 2014 interim labelling guidelines failed to end a long-running industry spat on a single definition of exactly what makes manuka honey such a premium product, especially when sold as a food.
Consumers have been confused by the industry’s three ways of defining honey – the unique manuka factor, methygloxal measure, and pollen counts.
MPI said its interim guidelines will be updated this year and changes made to the regulations once its manuka honey science programme has completed a “robust science-based definition for monofloral manuka honey to ensure consumers, overseas regulators, and industry can continue to have confidence in the safety and integrity of manuka honey”.
In the interim, it has been cracking down on labelling to ensure products meet the existing requirements.
UMFHA general manager John Rawcliffe said the industry wasn’t waiting for MPI to fix the problem, given the risk of increased off-shore initiated regulation and decreased returns for NZ producers.
“You can buy a car and paint it red but that doesn’t make it a Ferrari,” he said.
“We’ve come up with a way of looking under the bonnet.”
The industry banded together four years ago for research on solutions that are being rolled out in the next few months. However, there is still dissent within the industry over whether they will deter fakers.
This month the association applied for a manuka honey certification trademark that would be owned by the new Manuka Honey Appellation Society. UMFHA chairman Peter Luxton is the society’s founding member.
The association, on behalf of the society, would authorise and certify the trademark that would be open to anyone who is selling genuine NZ-produced monofloral manuka honey.
It’s also about to start selling a portable fluorescent device that tests for the nectar of Leptospermum scoparium.
And it has also developed a more robust test, after validating the research internationally, that shows a chemical footprint of 20 unique markers in the nectar and honey that distinguish monofloral honey made by bees foraging on manuka flowers from other blended or imitation honey.
Rawcliffe said it has set-up a network of labs in the biggest markets for honey exports – so far the United Kingdom and China – where the tests can be carried out by concerned retailers or consumers.
He likened the portable test to a breathalyser that shows the driver may have been drinking while further tests for the chemical footprint is similar to blood tests taken to confirm the actual intoxication level.
Renowned German honey scientist Thomas Henle also hopes to complete by the end of this year a way of showing whether DHA and MGO, the bioactive compounds of manuka, are naturally formed or artificially added to a honey.
Henle was in NZ at the invite of honey producer Manuka Health, which split from the association some years ago, to mark the 10th anniversary of his team at Dresden University discovering that methyglyoxal was the honey’s active compound.
He said methyglyoxal is the quality marker that gives manuka honey its antibacterial qualities for use in treating skin conditions and wounds and Henle’s team is also doing further research on its benefits for aiding digestion and gastro disorders.
He said even if a manuka honey is proven to be monofloral, the quality and the price depends on the concentration of MGO and DHA and it is therefore attractive for cheaters to add the synthetic compounds into the honey.
Henle said the UMFHA’s method doesn’t help identify fraudulently added MGO or DHA.
But Rawcliffe said its testing regime will show the presence of the 20 markers, including MGO and DHA, rather than just relying on one or two compounds and is, therefore, a more robust way of catching out frauds.
