Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the implications for its policies of reports of potential adulteration of honey sold in the UK.

All honey on sale in the UK must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015, with equivalent legislation applying across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This legislation sets out detailed specifications for composition, labelling, and quality criteria.

The Government takes any type of food fraud very seriously, including honey adulteration.

We are working closely with Food Standards Agency to follow-up on recent reports in an EU survey where a small number of exported honey samples exported via the UK were flagged as suspicious for adulteration with added sugars. We will act immediately if we find any wrongdoing as part of the investigation. Honey is a complex natural product and analysis to determine if honey has been adulterated can be challenging. The Government has a programme of research dedicated to verifying honey authenticity which is actively working to provide information and guidance to those carrying out monitoring and enforcement checks on honey, to protect consumers and legitimate businesses.