Behind the Buzz: Honey-Sweet risks and their implications

IF 6.3 1区农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Food Control Pub Date : 2025-08-05 DOI:10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111618

Mina Janković , Dunja Kobiljski , Ljilja Torović

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Abstract

Honey is a complex sweet product with a long tradition of use, produced by honeybees through the enzymatic conversion of nectar, pollen, or honeydew. Data in the RASFF database revealed 359 notifications concerning honey over 1999–2024, with 72.7 % of them concerning the individual or simultaneous presence of up to five residues of veterinary medicinal products. The frequency of veterinary drug classes was: sulfonamides (98) > amphenicols (60) > aminoglycosides (48) > tetracyclines (33), while a review of literature in the Web of Science (WoS) database showed the following order: tetracyclines ≈ aminoglycosides > sulfonamides > fluoroquinolones ≈ macrolides > nitroimidazoles. WoS also highlighted echimidine, lycopsamine, retrorsine, and senecionine as the most common pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey, residues of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides as most often exceeding regulatory limits, and high levels of toxic metals. While official EU monitoring programs provide broad-scope data, actions focused on specific issues to the greatest extent expose the real situation. Importantly, public health risks associated with honey were deemed not serious, with some exceptions concerning the child population. The most widely observed fraudulent practice was honey adulteration by dilution with sugar syrups. The overall recommendation is to continue investigating honey with a wide analytical scope, explore the contamination causes and reduction methods, increase the capacity and effectiveness of food control systems and thus ensure a high level of consumer protection.

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嗡嗡声背后：蜂蜜-甜的风险及其影响

蜂蜜是一种复杂的甜产品，具有悠久的使用传统，由蜜蜂通过酶转化花蜜，花粉或蜜露生产。RASFF数据库中的数据显示，1999-2024年期间有359份关于蜂蜜的通报，其中72.7%涉及单独或同时存在多达五种兽药残留物。兽药类别频次为：磺胺类（98）；安霉素（60）；氨基糖苷类（48）>；四环素（33），而Web of Science （WoS）数据库的文献综述显示：四环素≈氨基糖苷类>；磺胺类药比;氟喹诺酮类≈大环内酯类；nitroimidazoles。世界卫生组织还强调，蜂蜜中最常见的吡啶类生物碱是针基苯胺、番茄胺、反曲氨酸和蜜果碱，有机氯和有机磷农药的残留通常超过规定限值，有毒金属含量很高。虽然欧盟的官方监测项目提供了广泛的数据，但针对具体问题的行动在最大程度上暴露了真实情况。重要的是，与蜂蜜相关的公共健康风险被认为并不严重，但儿童人口除外。最普遍的欺诈行为是用糖浆稀释蜂蜜。总的建议是继续在广泛的分析范围内调查蜂蜜，探索污染原因和减少方法，提高食品控制系统的能力和有效性，从而确保高水平的消费者保护。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Food Control 工程技术-食品科技

CiteScore

12.20

自引率

6.70%

发文量

758

审稿时长

33 days

期刊介绍： Food Control is an international journal that provides essential information for those involved in food safety and process control. Food Control covers the below areas that relate to food process control or to food safety of human foods: • Microbial food safety and antimicrobial systems • Mycotoxins • Hazard analysis, HACCP and food safety objectives • Risk assessment, including microbial and chemical hazards • Quality assurance • Good manufacturing practices • Food process systems design and control • Food Packaging technology and materials in contact with foods • Rapid methods of analysis and detection, including sensor technology • Codes of practice, legislation and international harmonization • Consumer issues • Education, training and research needs. The scope of Food Control is comprehensive and includes original research papers, authoritative reviews, short communications, comment articles that report on new developments in food control, and position papers.