Behind the Buzz: Honey-Sweet risks and their implications

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.