Beekeeping - Article - Test on Chinese and blended honey show further illegal drug residue

The Food Standards Agency has received further results of tests that it is undertaking on Chinese and blended honey on sale in the UK. The Agency began these tests as a result of concerns about a lack of control on the use of veterinary drugs in China.

These latest results have revealed traces of an antibiotic, chloramphenicol. 10 out of 16 samples tested positive for illegal residues of chloramphenicol
On receiving these results, the Agency yesterday convened a meeting of independent scientific experts to assess whether this posed a risk to the consumer. The main known risk from chloramphenicol relates to aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK. It may also be linked to cancer. The conclusion was that overall the levels of this antibiotic in honey pose an extremely small risk to public health.

Nevertheless, it is illegal and undesirable for honey to contain chloramphenicol and the Agency is therefore calling for the withdrawal of jars of Chinese and blended honey on sale in the UK. The companies involved in this trade have been informed of the tests results. All jars of Chinese and blended honey (unless shown not to be of Chinese origin) are affected by the Agency's call for a withdrawal, as it believes that it is not possible to be confident that only the specific batches and lines tested are affected. The Agency is requesting that companies ensure that any restocking of the shelves with new lines meets legal requirements.

Local authorities are being advised of the results of the tests and the Agency's advice, and are being asked to check the withdrawal of these products.

The Agency's advice to the consumer is that, given the extremely small risk, people can continue to eat any honey they have already bought, irrespective of country of origin. This advice also applies to other foods that contain honey, where the risk is even lower.

Further tests are on-going and the Agency will publish more results and update its advice to the consumer as appropriate.

Notes to editors:

Reference number	Date of sample purchase	Description	Country of origin	Retail outlet	Address	Packer/ manufacturer	Residue level of Chloramphenicol	Residue level of Streptomycin (previously published)
13000	25/01/02	Asda Sunflower Honey	Not specified	Asda	Monks Cross, York	Asda	None detected above the RL set #	None detected above the RL set
13001	25/01/02	Gales Pure Honey (clear)	Not specified	Tesco	Clifton Moor, York	Gales	None detected above the RL set	None detected above the RL set
13002	25/01/02	Tesco Pure Set Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Tesco	Clifton Moor, York	Tesco	Chloramphenicol at 0.9 m g/kg	Streptomycin at 70 m g/kg
13003	25/01/02	Sainsbury's Runny Clear Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Sainsbury's	Monks Cross, York	Sainsbury's	Chloramphenicol at 3.1 m g/kg	Streptomycin at 60 m g/kg
13005	25/01/02	Asda Smartprice Set Honey	Not specified	Asda	Monks Cross, York	Asda	Chloramphenicol at 1.3 m g/kg	None detected above the RL set
13006	25/01/02	Sainsbury's Pure Clear Blended Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Sainsbury's	Monks Cross, York	Sainbury's	Chloramphenicol at 4.7 m g/kg	Streptomycin at 50 m g/kg
13007	25/01/02	Asda Pure Clear Honey	Not specified	Asda	Monks Cross, York	Asda	None detected above the RL set	None detected above the RL set
13008	25/01/02	Gales Pure (Set) Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Tesco	Clifton Moor, York	Gales	Chloramphenicol at 1.5 m g/kg	Streptomycin at 120 m g/kg
13009	25/01/02	Tesco Finest Acacia Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Tesco	Clifton Moor, York	Tesco	Chloramphenicol at 4.5 m g/kg	Streptomycin at 50 m g/kg
13010	25/01/02	Asda Acacia Honey	China	Asda	Monks Cross, York	Asda	None detected above the RL set	Streptomycin at 500 m g/kg
13011	25/01/02	Tesco Pure Clear Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Tesco	Clifton Moor, York	Tesco	None detected above the RL set	Streptomycin at 180 m g/kg
13012	25/01/02	Rowse Pure Natural Blossom Honey	Not specified	Sainsbury's	Monks Cross, York		Chloramphenicol at 1.2 m g/kg	None detected above the RL set
13050	28/01/02	Leechy Honey	China	Newport Supermarket	Chinatown, London	Packed by Chuan Chiong company	None detected above the RL set #	None detected above the RL set
13051	28/01/02	Bee's Queen Brand Pure Chinese Honey	China	New Loon Supermarket	Chinatown, London	Packed by Shanhai Native	Chloramphenicol at 4.3 m g/kg	None detected above the RL set
13467	07/02/02	Tesco Finest Acacia Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Tesco	Royston, Herts	Tesco	Chloramphenicol at 4.3 m g/kg	Not tested
13513	14/02/02	Sainsbury's Pure Clear Blended Honey	Blended. Contains honey of Chinese origin*	Sainsbury's	Monks Cross, York	Sainbury's	Chloramphenicol at 7.2 m g/kg	Not tested

# Presence of chloramphenicol is indicated in this sample at a level that cannot be quantified reliably by the analytical method, i.e. it is present at a concentration below the specified RL.

Agency calls for withdrawal of Chinese and blended honey

All jars of Chinese and blended honey (unless shown not to be of Chinese origin) should be withdrawn from sale, says the Food Standards Agency. The call comes in the wake of tests that revealed traces of the antibiotic chloramphenicol in some jars of Chinese and blended honey.

The Agency began the tests on honey because of concerns about a lack of controls on the use of veterinary drugs in China. In the latest results, illegal residues of chloramphenicol were found in 10 out of 16 samples. In the EU it is illegal to use chloramphenicol on animals where they, or their products, are destined for human consumption.
A meeting of independent scientific experts, convened by the Agency to assess whether the residues pose a risk to consumers, concluded that the levels found pose an extremely small risk. The main known risk from chloramphenicol relates to aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK. Chloramphenicol may also be linked to cancer.

The Agency advises that, because of the extremely small risk, people can continue to eat honey they have already bought, regardless of the country of origin. This advice also applies to foods that contain honey, where the risk is even lower.

Chinese honey: Your Questions Answered

What is the problem?

Testing of samples of Chinese and blended honey on sale in the UK has revealed traces of the antibiotic chloramphenicol. Whilst this drug is used in human medicine, it is illegal for honey to contain this drug, which has been banned by Europe for this use since 1994.

What were the results?

Ten out of 16 samples of honey (purchased from high street stores and two Chinese specialist shops) tested positive for residues of chloramphicol.

So can I still eat Chinese and blended honey?

The Agency is not advising against eating Chinese and blended honey, given the extremely small risk.

Are you confident that the risk is small?

Expert advice is that the risk posed by chloramphenicol is extremely small for adults and children alike. The main known risk relates to aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK. It may also be linked to cancer. However the amount of chloramphenicol you would get from eating honey is extremely low: two teaspoons of honey would contain less than one millionth of the dose to treat, for example, typhoid.

What about other foods that contain Chinese and blended honey?

The Agency is not advising against eating foods that contain this honey, such as breakfast cereals, Greek pastries and honey-glazed ham. Expers advise us that the extremely small risk posed by honey is diluted further in such products.

How can I tell where my honey comes from?

A lot of products are blended with honey from more than one country. Much of this will contain Chinese honey, although not all. People who want to know where the honey they are buying comes from should check the label. It should be assumed that blended products contain honey from China in the blend, unless the country/countries of origin are clearly listed and do not include China.

Why is the Agency doing these tests?

A European Commission (EC) inspection visit to China in November 2001 identified a lack of controls on the use of veterinary medicines and other products in animals. This could lead to levels of residues and contaminants in products of animal origin presenting a risk to public health. Once these concerns wre raised the Agency began precautionary checks on Chinese products already on sale in the UK, of which honey is the biggest seller. Europe has since suspended these imports with effect from March 14th. Products already in transit must be safety checked on arrival or they will not get into the country.

What are the companies involved being asked to do?

It is illegal and undesirable for honey to contain chloramphenicol and the Agency is therefore calling for the withdrawal of jars of Chinese and blended honey on sale in the UK. The companies involved in this trade have been informed of the test results. All jars of Chinese and blended honey, unless shown not to be of Chinese origin, are affected by the Agency's call for a withdrawal, as it believes it is not possible to be confident that only specific batches and lines tested are affected. The Agency is requesting that companies ensure that any restocking of the shelves with new lines meets legal requirements.

How can we be confident they will take the products off the shelves?

Local authorities are being advised of the results of the tests and the Agency's advice, and are being asked to check the withdrawal of these products.

Can I still eat Chinese food or go to Chinese restaurants and take-aways?

The Food Standards Agency is not advising against eating Chinese food. Similarly, it is not advising avoidance of Chinese restaurants or take-aways.

Are there any other issues about honey?

Unrelated to this issue, the Agency does have existing advice on honey: it should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism.