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<ul><li>Dabur has launched its first organic product. </li><li>As per the company statement, Dabur <keyword id="3135785" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Organic-honey">Organic Honey</keyword> comes with the ‘promise of being completely unprocessed and unpasteurized.’</li></ul>A recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) put the honey market and the intense competition in the limelight. It found rampant adulteration in honey sold by major Indian brands, with 77% of samples failing purity tests for sugar syrup adulteration. Following the controversy, <keyword id="6373748" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="dabur-india">Dabur India</keyword> Limited has now partnered with Amazon India to launch Dabur Organic Honey, which is the first organic product from the house of Dabur. Dabur Organic Honey claims to come with the ‘promise of being completely unprocessed and unpasteurized.’ Commenting on the launch, Prashant Agarwal, Marketing Head- Health Supplements, Dabur India Ltd said, “Organic is not just a choice of products. It is gradually becoming a mainstream lifestyle. In terms of consumption, the focus on natural and other products is on the rise. We are confident that people who conform to this lifestyle would definitely find the Dabur Organic Honey a much-needed addition to their daily routine. Dabur Organic Honey is completely unprocessed and unpasteurized with only filtration done to remove any impurities. We are happy to have partnered with Amazon to take this product to our consumers, who have made <keyword id="425049" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dabur-Honey">Dabur Honey</keyword> as World’s No. 1 honey brand.” Saurabh Srivastava, Director – Category Management, Amazon India said “We are happy to bring the new ‘Dabur Organic Honey’ for customers on Amazon.in. With the new Dabur Organic Honey, we aim to strengthen our portfolio and provide our customers a vast selection of organic products from a trusted brand like Dabur. We continue to give our customers an unmatched value, fast and reliable delivery and a great shopping experience." “Today Indian consumers’ demand for Organic food has increased and with fitness and healthy lifestyle at the forefront, we as a brand have developed an Organic version of our Star product Dabur Organic Honey which is 100% pure and natural. The process of procuring the Organic Honey from remote rainforests has been the most rewarding experience for us as a brand and we make sure we pass on the unadulterated and unpasteurized product to our consumers, as it is. So yes, I am proud to say that we select apiaries within close proximities of only organic farmlands managed without chemicals or pesticides to get our hero product. The product is exclusively available on Amazon at INR 235 for a 300g pack,” said Smerth Khanna, Business Head – Ecommerce, Dabur India.

Following the honey adulteration controversy, Dabur launches 'Organic Honey' which is 'untouched by chemicals'

<ul><li>A report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claims that most big Indian brands, including Dabur, Patanjali and Emami, are selling <keyword id="8464467" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="adulterated-honey">adulterated honey</keyword>. And that these brands failed an adulteration test carried out by a foreign laboratory. </li><li>10 out of 13 honey brands have failed the ‘purity test, the investigation by CSE reveals.</li><li>However, companies have refuted these allegations. In an email statement to Business Insider, Dabur said that “the recent reports seem motivated and aimed at maligning our brand.”</li><li>Indian billionaire businessman Acharya Balkrishan from Patanjali also called the report “a plot to defame Indian natural honey industry.” And, added that it might be a way of promoting German technology in India.</li></ul>Top branded honey producers in India, including Dabur, Patanjali, and Emami are allegedly selling adulterated honey with a modified sugar, according to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). It claims that the big brands failed an adulteration test carried out by a foreign laboratory. However, the leading Indian brands have denied these reports calling them malicious and baseless; and that they comply with the guidelines laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). In an email statement to Business Insider, Dabur said that the recent reports “seem motivated and aimed at maligning our brand. We assure our consumers that <keyword id="425049" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dabur-Honey">Dabur Honey</keyword> is 100% Pure. It is 100% indigenous, collected naturally from Indian sources and packed with no added sugar or other adulterants.” The manufacturer of Zandu Pure Honey, Emami also said that its “honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the Government of India and its authorized entities such as FSSAI.” Indian billionaire businessman Acharya Balkrishan from Patanjali has called the report “a plot to defame Indian natural honey industry.” He also added that it might be a way of promoting German technology in India. CSE investigates how the brands adulterated honey The CSE investigation reveals that the companies mixed the naturally acquired honey from bees with sugar syrup procured from rice, corn, beetroot, and sugarcane and passed them off as pure. It also added that almost all brands of honey being sold in Indian markets are adulterated with sugar syrup. The organisation said the repeated use of the terms fructose and glucose on Chinese websites prompted them to look at the imports of these from China.And, when they checked Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry export import database, the two of the FSSAI named syrups — rice syrup and golden syrup — could not be found. However, “Invert sugar” had an HS code but limited shipments. These are the findings: The adulterated honey passed tests of purity when first tested at the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat. However, when the same brands were tested using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) laboratory tests, which is currently used globally to check for such modified sugar syrups – almost all big and small brands failed, the report said. <ul><li>77% of the samples were found to be adulterated with addition of sugar syrup.</li><li>Out of 22 samples tested, only five passed all the tests.</li><li>Honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed the NMR test.</li><li>Only 3 out of the 13 brands – Saffola, Markfed Sohna and Nature’s Nectar (one out of two samples) — passed all the tests. </li></ul>CSE raises the red flag The director general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Sunita Narain said, “It is a food fraud more nefarious and more sophisticated than what we found in our 2003 and 2006 investigations into soft drinks; more damaging to our health than perhaps anything that we have found till now – keeping in mind the fact that we are still fighting against a killer COVID-19 pandemic with our backs to the wall. This overuse of sugar in our diet will make it worse.” CSE also claimed that the Indian government might be aware of this adulteration and is not interested in digging it. “We filed an application under the Right To Information Act (RTI) We filed an application under the Right To Information Act (RTI) with the Imports Division of FSSAI. FSSAI has said it has sent the RTI application to another division but has not cared to say which one So, either FSSAI knows what is going on, and is not telling us—the consumers—or, it is fishing around to see if it can find the honey fraud and stop it,” the report added. <div type="image" title="new honey" msid="79545208" hostid="261"></div> Business Insider checked out the labels of <keyword id="3239929" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Patanjali-honey">Patanjali Honey</keyword> and Dabur Honey to check if it mentions Fructose-Glucose ratio, which needs to be under 0.95-1.5% by mass. However, the company does not reveal that detail on the label. The labels from both these companies did mention that there is no added sugar and the products match the FSSAI standards. Debunking ‘pure honey’ myths Pure honey is pasteurized but contains no added ingredients. Myth: You cannot test honey’s purity Fact: To test adulteration in honey, you can add a teaspoon of the honey in a glass full of water. The adulterated honey will dissolve quickly in the water, whereas the pure honey with a more dense texture will settle right at the bottom as lumps. However, the CSE claims that it even manipulated the first safety check at CSE, so it can easily deceive the home-based tests. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stock-movers-ril-maruti-indigo-dhfl-spicejet-wipro-future-retail-and-others/articleshow/79541459.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sensex, Nifty hit record high — these are the top movers in trade today</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-may-reportedly-block-wikipedia-if-the-site-doesnt-delete-the-map-showing-aksai-chin-as-a-part-of-china/articleshow/79541391.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India may reportedly block Wikipedia if the site doesn't delete the map showing Aksai Chin as a part of China</a>

Dabur, Patanjali, and Emami decry a study that found what you buy is not all honey

The apiarists of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan are as busy as a <keyword id="6363485" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bee" source="Orion">bee</keyword> itself. Sadly, they are not getting a fair price for the hard work they put in. Over the years, production cost has soared, but honey prices have not increased proportionately, putting around 1,500 beekeepers in the district in a tight spot. Considering the charges incurred on bee boxes, labour, food and accommodation of labourers and transport, the production cost of one kg of honey comes to Rs 125. In contrast, companies buy the produce for Rs 60-70 per kg, which is at least Rs 10 less than the procurement price provided almost two decades ago! The struggle does not end with this wide disparity in input and procurement costs. The drop in honey production also stings beekeepers. "Twenty-five years ago, one colony produced 50 to 60 kg of honey in the mustard growing season (October to March). With the increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, this has come down to 15 kg," said Punjab-based Jaspreet Singh, who supplies bee colonies to apiarists in Hanumangarh. "Bees do not visit flowers of crops sprayed with pesticides, else they will die. This has affected pollination. There is also a new concern that genetically modified plants might have an adverse effect on pollinators," he added. Honey trap Among the many issues, the addition of artificial colours and sugars to honey is a major cause of concern for beekeepers. "The authorities are hand in glove with procuring companies. It keeps changing norms, which encourages companies to sell adulterated honey instead of buying pure produce from us. Some parameters were unnecessarily diluted, without any explanation,' Prakash Singh <keyword id="6382895" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="badal" source="Orion">Badal</keyword>, a resident of Nohar in Hanumangarh and president of the northern Rajasthan unit of the Rashtriya Beekeepers Sangharsh Samiti, told 101Reporters. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has defined honey as a natural sweet substance produced by bees from the pollination of plants or by separating living parts of plants or by insects sucking on living plants. The bee collects, transforms, dehydrates and stores it, ripens and matures it in the hive. For the greed of money, several companies play with the health of unsuspecting consumers by selling honey mixed with maize and rice syrup. An investigation carried out by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in 2020 found that 10 out of the 13 major brands sold honey containing sugar syrup. "In 1994, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had set the standard for pollen count and plant element in honey at 50,000 per gram, but it was changed to 25,000 per gram in 2018. A year later, it was diluted to 5,000 per gram. The government also did away with the quality control test for honey," Badal explained. At the same time, pollen count is not considered a measure of the quality of honey globally. Consequently, determining adulteration by checking the pollen count has been a matter of controversy. This is exacerbated by the fact that pollen count varies in different types of honey. For example, it can be different in mustard, litchi, or honey obtained from a single flower or different flowers. Banks sting them Rajasthan Khadi and Village Industries Board does not run any special scheme for beekeepers, but gets grants from the Khadi and Village Industries Commission through the state government. While banks give loans to apiarists, the board pitches in by offering subsidies to the loanee using the Central Commission's grant. The subsidy component differs for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Other Backward Classes and the general category. However, the subsidy upper limit is 35 per cent of the loan amount. Harjeet Singh of Araiyanwali Dhani explained how banks let him down. "My brother Gurmeet Singh and I made a loan application with the Khadi board in 2019. The board sanctioned Rs 8 lakh each in our names and sent the proposal to ICICI Bank, which turned it down after a long-winding process. If the bank had passed our loan, we could have expanded our beekeeping business and taken advantage of the subsidy." Kuldeep Saharan of Ranjitpura had a similar experience. "The board sanctioned Rs 4 lakh in my name, but the State Bank of India did not disburse the money. No bank gives money to beekeepers," he lamented. Confirming the charge, Madan Lal Swami, Divisional Officer, Rajasthan Khadi and Village Industries Board, Bikaner, told 101Reporters that banks were not cooperative. He said they have raised the issue in several meetings and seminars, but the attitude of the banks have remained the same. "From 2018 to date, 58 apiarists have applied for loans. We rejected 21 applications at the departmental level due to various deficiencies, but approved 35 and asked various banks to give loans. Yet, only four beekeepers got the money. The remaining two applications are pending with us." When contacted, <keyword id="103483" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="raj-kumar" source="Orion">Raj Kumar</keyword>, lead district manager, Hanumangarh, told 101Reporters that banks do not adopt a negative approach in any matter. "It is quite possible that banks have rejected several applications because they are not confident that the loanee can pay back the amount. They just want to ensure the return of the money. At the same time, there may be cases where the banks have given loans to all applicants. It is purely based on the merit of each case," he said. Rajasthan Horticulture Department also has a provision to arrange a 40 per cent subsidy from the National Horticulture Mission for the supply of bee colonies and bee boxes. In the 2022-23 financial year, the department planned to distribute 2,850 colonies and boxes in Hanumangarh district. Similarly, neighbouring Sri Ganganagar district was to get 7,550 colonies and boxes each. Horticulture Officer <keyword id="6110560" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rajendra-nain" source="Orion">Rajendra Nain</keyword> told 101Reporters that a tender invite was issued last year, but the contract was not inked with any of the bidders. Two months ago, a new tender invitation was made. Bogged down by several issues, the apiarists of Hanumangarh district held a protest outside the Collectorate in February and submitted a memorandum of demands, which included announcing a Minimum Support Price of Rs 150 per kg for honey. They sought recognition of honey bees as inputs to agriculture and landless beekeepers as farmers, as recommended by Bibek Debroy-led Beekeeping Development Committee under the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. "The Debroy committee had recommended plantation of bee-friendly flora at appropriate places and employment of women self-help groups for its upkeep," said Badal. The committee report released on June 26, 2019, had discussed the state government's role in training beekeepers, besides promoting infrastructure at the national and regional levels for the collection, processing, marketing and promotion of honey and related products. There were suggestions to simplify the procedures and specify clear standards to ease exports. "We would have benefitted if the committee's recommendations were implemented, but it has been shelved for almost four years," he added. The beekeepers also sought the setting up of a laboratory that met international standards to check the purity of honey and curb adulteration. They want the administration to ban genetically modified crops and the indiscriminate use of pesticides in agriculture. They believe that farmers will benefit if honey is included in the mid-day meal scheme, and made available at government stores. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ather-finally-focuses-on-affordable-electric-scooters-after-losing-its-lead-to-ola-electric-and-tvs-motor/articleshow/99456189.cms">Ather finally focuses on affordable electric scooters after losing its lead to Ola Electric and TVS Motor</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/star-treks-william-shatner-to-lead-stars-on-mars-competition-series/articleshow/99457006.cms">Star Trek's William Shatner to lead 'Stars On Mars' competition series</a>

Rajasthan's beekeepers in the honey trap of high costs and low prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6387569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="honey">Honey</keyword> is the third-most-faked <keyword id="6181" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Food">food</keyword> in the world, behind milk and olive oil, according to compliance management company Decernis.</li><li>Fake honey is bad for beekeepers, and also means that <keyword id="54631" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="bees">bees</keyword> spend more time pollinating, which wears them out.</li><li>“Honey launderers” fool authenticity tests by making chemical modifications, making it hard to trace where the honey came from.</li><li>The testing has gotten better than the 2013 “Honeygate” scandal where the Justice Department went after honey launderers.</li><li>But the industry still doesn’t always use sophisticated tests that can see through chemical modifications, and consumers have to rely on toothless government regulators.</li></ul>In February 2013, the Justice Department charged two major honey importers <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-china-honey/u-s-charges-five-in-honeygate-anti-dumping-probe-idUSL1N0BKCRX20130220">in "Operation Honeygate."</a>The importers — Honey Solutions and Groeb Farms — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/honey-laundering-is-an-international-problem-2013-3?r=MX&amp;IR=TIR=T">shipped fake or adulterated Chinese honey</a> through other countries in Asia and Europe before sending them to the US.The honey-laundering scheme, which helped the companies avoid $180 million in shipping duties, hid the honey's true origin, leaving few to suspect that it wasn't real.It was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2016/07/15/exclusive-book-excerpt-honey-is-worlds-third-most-faked-food/#5b1b748d4f09">the biggest incident of food fraud in US history</a>.More than seven years later, a lot of our honey is still fake. <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/08/30/the-scourge-of-honey-fraud">According to the Food Fraud Database</a> maintained by <a href="https://decernis.com/solutions/food-fraud-database/">the compliance management company Decernis</a>, it's the third-most-faked food behind milk and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-how-to-buy-real-extra-virgin-olive-oil-2017-6">olive oil</a>.There's no reason to think that fake or adulterated honey is a threat to public health, but it's still a problem.The manufacturers either dilute real honey with syrup derived from plants, like high-fructose corn syrup or beet syrup. Or they can chemically modify the sugars in those syrups to make them look like real honey.Undercut by prices that can dip below half their operating costs, honey producers <a href="https://beesabroad.org.uk/honey-fraud/">bear the economic brunt</a>."Adulterated or fake honey depresses the price for real honey, making honey production unprofitable," Kelvin Adee, president of the American Honey Producers Association, told Insider. "Beekeepers have to turn to other sources of income such as packing and retailing honey themselves, raising queens/hives for sale or pollination services. Honey production by itself is not a sustainable option."<h2>Fake honey is bad for beekeepers and bad for bees</h2>The exact amount of fake honey in the world is up for debate. An <a href="http://www.honeyauthenticity.org/images/Alert%20I%20Honey%20Authenticity%20Project.pdf">analysis by the Honey Authenticity Project</a>, an association of activists and industry members, places the number of fake or adulterated honey at 33%. A <a href="https://theconversation.com/honeygate-deepens-as-new-tests-reveal-27-of-brands-are-adulterated-104139">2018 study of honey for sale in Australia</a> found that 27% of the products tested were faked or had other ingredients mixed in.US-specific numbers are harder to come by, but one lawyer, who's behind several class-action lawsuits accusing honey brands of fraud, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey">puts the figure as high as 70%</a>.<div type="image" title="honey bees" height="4195" width="5594" msid="78336793" hostid="261"></div>Earlier this year, Vice tested honey brands in several US grocery stores and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey">found that many of them were adulterated</a>. But the threat extends beyond those little golden bears lining the supermarket shelves, Adee said.Honey plays a huge role in the American diet, with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/05/14/dying-bees-could-mean-the-end-of-american-honey/">about 400 million pounds of it</a> ending up in our food every year, much of it in processed foods like cereal.Beekeepers in the United Kingdom have been hit particularly hard. The UK received 47% of Europe's honey imports from China in 2018, but a <a href="http://www.honeyauthenticity.org/images/Alert%20II%20Honey%20Authenticity%20Project%20final.pdf">Honey Authenticity Project</a> lab analysis of 11 supermarket brands found that none complied with EU labeling standards.<div type="image" title="honey beekeeper" height="1666" width="2223" msid="78336795" hostid="261"></div>Adulterated honey also ultimately drives honey prices down, <a href="https://beesabroad.org.uk/honey-fraud/">beekeepers say</a>. Some beekeepers find it's more worthwhile to have their bees focus on pollination rather than honey production. It's a vicious cycle that leads to less authentic honey in the market."When the cost of production is around $2, it's really tough to compete against prices that are well under a dollar," Adee told Insider."There are beekeepers who have decided to call it quits and leave the industry," he added.And <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey">it's bad for bees</a>, too: With pollination, bees travel more, putting hives at risk of exposure to new diseases.<h2>How 'honey laundering' works</h2>"Honey laundering" became widespread when Chinese laboratories began modifying high-fructose corn syrups to make them look like pure honey.The sugars in these syrups — known as C4 sugars — became popular for honey counterfeiters in the 1970s, with the invention of high-fructose corn syrup, according to Richard Anderson, director of Siratech, a private lab in Texas that detects fake and adulterated honey.But they were soon easily detected in tests, so honey counterfeiters modified their methods to use syrups developed from plants with C3 sugars, like rice, beets, or cassava."[Regulators] started looking for it and catching people, so they shifted over to other types of syrups," Anderson said.<div type="image" title="honey authenticity testing" height="1302" width="1733" msid="78336798" hostid="261"></div>The adulterated syrups can be used to dilute a smaller batch of real honey. They can also be fed directly to bees, replacing flower nectar, Anderson told Insider.Earlier honey authentication tests analyzed the pollen inside honey and traced them back to their source. But some honey launderers have gotten smart, treating honey so that it's difficult to trace. Anderson's lab runs SIRA tests, which <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168535/">are sophisticated enough</a> to catch the large majority of attempts to falsify honey."They either buy pollens or blend custom made syrups with honey that already has pollen in it," Adee said. "It seems like every time there's a new test that comes out, it's not long that they'll find a way that they can beat it."<h2>'Honeygate' first brought the problem to national attention</h2>The 2013 <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/two-companies-and-five-individuals-charged-roles-illegal-honey-imports-avoided-180">federal investigation</a> found that Honey Solutions and Groeb Farms had used countries like Vietnam, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Turkey, and Ukraine as intermediaries to disguise the fact that they were bringing in fake honey from China.That practice still persists years later, according to <a href="https://www.apiservices.biz/documents/articles-en/international_honey_market_report_september_2017.pdf">an October 2017 report published in the American Bee Journal</a>. The analysis compared honey imports from those countries compared to beehives and found that the numbers didn't add up.<div type="image" title="honey bottles shelves" height="3190" width="4254" msid="78336802" hostid="261"></div>To resolve their cases, both Honey Solutions and Groeb Farms ultimately <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/two-companies-and-five-individuals-charged-roles-illegal-honey-imports-avoided-180">agreed</a> to implement corporate compliance programs.A representative for Honey Solutions declined Insider's request for comment about the implementation of its compliance program.Groeb Farms, Inc. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/honey-supplier-groeb-farms-files-for-chapter-11-protection-1380741739">filed for bankruptcy</a> in October 2013. The company Natural American Foods — <a href="https://sweetharvestfoods.com/natural-american-foods-adopts-sweet-harvest-foods-name-following-acquisition/">now called Sweet Harvest Foods</a> — bought some of its assets, including its manufacturing equipment, in a bankruptcy sale.John Rzeszut, the vice president of Marketing and Customer Development at Sweet Harvest Foods, told Insider that the company's honey is tested by <a href="http://www.intertek.com/">Intertek</a>, a global leader in product testing, inspection, and certification.<div type="image" title="honey production bees beekeepers" height="1696" width="2261" msid="78336804" hostid="261"></div>In a statement, Rzeszut said Sweet Harvest Foods operates under "strict oversight by a number of government and industry organizations," including the USDA and FDA, and "takes great pains to ensure traceability of the honey that we source" by testing every load of honey to confirm its country of origin."This testing, which is common in the honey industry, involves analyzing the pollen of the floral sources that the bees visited when collecting the nectar to make the honey," Rzeszut said. "The honey samples are sent to a world-class laboratory used by numerous industry participants in Germany and we only purchase honey that has successfully passed the traceability testing."<h2>Since 'Honeygate,' the industry has moved toward transparency. But experts say it isn't enough.</h2>The honey industry now has basically two ways of testing whether honey is fake or adulterated: checking its origin or checking its chemical composition.Checking the origin of honey is relatively straightforward. If a manufacturer says honey came from one place, but lab tests show it came from another, then we know that something is wrong.But complying with traceability certification organizations — like <a href="https://truesourcehoney.com/">True Source Honey</a> — is voluntary. And the USDA's grading system for honey <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2016/07/15/exclusive-book-excerpt-honey-is-worlds-third-most-faked-food/#5b1b748d4f09">isn't enforced, and doesn't require inspections to carry the "A" grade</a>.<div type="image" title="honey test france" height="2250" width="3000" msid="78336807" hostid="261"></div>Honey producers can also chemically alter honey to confuse chemical traceability tests. The best way to test for honey authenticity is with more sophisticated chemical tests, like SIRA, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey">or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging</a>.It's hard to know how many honey companies actually use these tests. A representative for <a href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/research-promotion/honey">the National Honey Board</a>, a part of the US Department of Agriculture <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2018/01/09/usda-announces-national-honey-board-appointments">made up of honey industry leaders</a>, didn't respond to requests for comment."Individually, the people that make up the industry, some are very interested in authenticating their honey, and I would have to say that some aren't interested," Anderson said. "The ones that have been burned don't want to get burned again, but the ones that want to buy the cheapest stuff they can find and make the highest mark-up they can make — there are those guys too."<div type="image" title="honey production bees beekeeper" height="1667" width="2500" msid="78336811" hostid="261"></div>But that doesn't mean that food tracing programs are useless. Sweet Harvest told Insider it's taken pains to follow traceability procedures as part of a broader food fraud prevention program developed in consultation with John Spink, <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/johnspink">a food counterfeiting expert at Michigan State University</a>. Sweet Harvest is under oversight from the British <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">Retail</keyword> Consortium, Foreign Supplier Verification Program, and Global Food Safety Initiative. The company also conducts pollen analysis and tests every load of honey for other sugars — like cane sugar or corn syrup — to make sure they aren't adulterated. Their measures include rejecting raw honey from importers that include "unacceptable levels of foreign sugars."Sweet Harvest is also <a href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Official%20ListingPVP.pdf">certified by the USDA's Process Verified Program</a> — the only honey company on there."USDA has audited our purchase records, inspected our facilities, and visited the facilities of our suppliers overseas to ensure that we are following proper traceability protocols," Rzeszut said.When asked about testing honey imports, the USDA directed Insider to the Food and Drug Administration, the department responsible for enforcing the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. <div type="image" title="honey beekeeper bees" height="1665" width="2221" msid="78336813" hostid="261"></div>FDA press officer Peter Cassell told Insider that it can deny or detain honey imported into the US without physical inspection. From there, the company must get they honey tested — often from a third-party lab — to support approval for import. The FDA doesn't run its own verification tests."There are a number of steps that companies go through to offer products for import to the U.S. market and it's the responsibility of the company to follow these processes," Cassell wrote in an email.But the FDA has its own challenges.For honey, it requires additives to be listed as ingredients, but has no legal enforcement mechanism for those rules, <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/08/30/the-scourge-of-honey-fraud">The Economist</a> reported.The agency also doesn't have a great definition for authentic honey in the first place, leaving ambiguity that allows manufacturers to harvest honeycombs before the honey fully ripens, according to The Economist.The FDA only acts against honey manufacturers if it detects <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey">a potential food safety issue</a>. And while fake honey may seem like a scam for consumers, and may be harmful for the industry, there's no evidence it's unsafe. Consumers just have to take the private sector's word for the unadulterated truth.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/manuka-honey-new-zealand-why-so-expensive-2019-6">What makes mānuka honey 100 times more expensive than regular honey</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/babies-honey-infant-botulism-bacteria-health-danger-2019-3">Babies can't eat honey because it can cause 'infant botulism' — here's what that means</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/manuka-doctor-honey-review-2018-11">I'm using this unexpected pantry item to wash my face — and my skin has never looked better</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/nypd-bee-cop-has-beehive-at-a-precinct-2018-10">The New York City Police Department employs an elite bee cop with his own hive atop a precinct. Take a look.</a></li></ul>

Honey is one of the most faked foods in the world, and the US government isn't doing much to fix it

New Delhi, Nov 24 () The government has asked the Export Inspection Council (EIC) that comes under the Commerce Ministry to make NMR-testing mandatory for honey exported from India to ensure quality as part of its efforts to boost outward shipments. 
The NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) screening technique is used to test for adulterations and other manipulations. Industry experts believe that this test will ensure quality of honey and help exporters in getting a better price in the international market.
According to representatives from the apiculture industry, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) - which comes under the Commerce Ministry - had called a meeting of honey exporters on November 18, and a honey export body was set up.
During the meeting, the participants had an unanimous view that the NMR testing should be made mandatory.
"EIC has set up a lab near Mumbai where testing of honey that is to be exported can be done but the services are not available to all beekeepers. Two years ago, honey exporters would get USD 2,900 per tonne but because of adulterated honey, they get about USD 1,500 now," National Bee Board (NBB) executive member Devvrat Sharma told .
After NMR testing, the products will have an assured quality and will lead to higher exports at a better price realisation, he added.
"Last year, 62,000 tonne honey was exported. We got a rate of USD 1,500 per tonne. Our expectation is that after NMR testing, we will start getting a rate of about USD 2,000 or more per tonne," he said.
Prakash Kejriwal, who is an exporter, said: "Honey from India comes before Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and other honey-exporting countries, and Indian honey from flowers of mustard has a lot of demand internationally."
"Honey made from flowers of from carom seed (ajwain), litchi, eucalyptus, jamun and others are consumed domestically. Beekeepers get Rs 65-75 per kg for the honey," he said.
Kejriwal said after NMR testing, exporters have agreed to pay farmers Rs 85 per kg.
According to estimates, 80 per cent of the honey exported from
India goes to the US, 19 per cent to West Asian countries and one per cent to European countries. SHA SR MJH MKJ
MKJ

Govt wants NMR-testing mandatory for honey exported from India

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sia called <keyword id="31432" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Shia-Labeouf">Shia LaBeouf</keyword> a "pathological liar" and said he "conned" her into a <keyword id="6355233" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Relationship">relationship</keyword> by lying about his own relationship status.</li><li>The "Chandelier" singer's comments come after singer <keyword id="2504517" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="FKA-Twigs">FKA Twigs</keyword> filed a lawsuit against him, alleging sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress over the course of their relationship. </li><li>Representatives for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</li></ul>Sia, the singer known for her face-covering bangs, called "Honey Boy" actor Shia LaBeouf a "pathological liar" and claimed he tricked her into a relationship by falsely telling her that he was single at the time.Sia <a href="https://twitter.com/Sia/status/1337983571768737792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1337983571768737792%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fmusic%2Fsia-shia-labeouf-pathological-liar-conned-adulterous-relationship-28378487848">shared these claims on Twitter</a> on December 12, a day after singer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/arts/music/fka-twigs-shia-labeouf-abuse.html">FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf</a>, accusing him of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress during their yearlong relationship."I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single," Sia wrote alongside a link to the New York Times story on the lawsuit. "I believe he's very sick and have compassion for him AND his victims."In her post, Sia also called Twigs "courageous," and said she was proud of her for sharing her experience.It's unclear when LaBeouf and Sia were romantically connected, as the singer didn't give any details about their relationship. They <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWZGAExj-es">worked together on the set of Sia's "Elastic Heart" music video</a>, which LaBeouf appeared in and was released in January 2015. On Friday, the New York Times reported 32-year-old <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/arts/music/fka-twigs-shia-labeouf-abuse.html">FKA Twigs, who was born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, had filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Court</a>. In the <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/lawsuit-fka-twigs-shia-la-beouf/35d97cbb8df917bf/full.pdf">documents</a>, FKA Twigs said LaBoeuf often grabbed her until she became bruised, started night-long fights that exhausted her, and forced her to sleep naked. He also kept a gun at his bedside and instructed her to avoid eye contact with male waiters when they dined out.LaBeouf was previously arrested on since-dropped charges of assault and disorderly conduct, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/arts/music/fka-twigs-shia-labeouf-abuse.html">Times</a> reported. Representatives for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.FKA Twigs told the Times she filed the time- and cost-intensive lawsuit in the hopes of raising awareness about how often domestic violence happens and who it happens to."What I went through with Shia was the worst thing I've ever been through in the whole of my life," FKA Twigs told the New York Times. "I don't think people would ever think that it would happen to me. But I think that's the thing. It can happen to anybody."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/why-straight-relationships-are-doomed-according-to-sex-researcher-2020-12">Why heterosexual relationships are so bad for us, according to a sex researcher</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/what-underground-abortions-look-like-roe-v-wade-is-overturned-2020-12">What underground abortions could look like if Roe v. Wade is overturned</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/divorce-court-is-booming-during-the-normally-quiet-holiday-season-2020-11">Divorce court is normally quiet during the holiday season, but this year it's booming as the pandemic drives couples apart</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/khloe-kardashians-face-alterations-plastic-surgeons-explain-2020-11">Plastic surgeons explain the changes to Khloe Kardashian's nose, chin, and cheeks</a></li></ul>

Sia says Shia LaBeouf is a 'pathological liar' who lied about his relationship status amidst lawsuit alleging abusive relationship

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="31432" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Shia-Labeouf">Shia LaBeouf</keyword> has a long and public history of violent misdemeanors, but this has not stopped his career and star power from ascending. </li><li>As his private life became increasingly volatile, so too did his onscreen characters. </li><li>Insider spoke to three industry experts about Shia LaBeouf's career, the <a href="https://www.insider.com/fka-twigs-sues-shia-labeouf-allegations-physical-emotional-abuse-lawsuit-2020-12">potential result</a> of <keyword id="2504517" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="FKA-Twigs">FKA Twigs</keyword>' lawsuit, and the dangers of abusive behavior off-screen being rewarded on-screen. </li></ul>"Shia LaBeouf hurts women. He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally. He is dangerous," British musician FKA Twigs <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/lawsuit-fka-twigs-shia-la-beouf/35d97cbb8df917bf/full.pdf">alleged in her lawsuit filed last month</a> against her ex-partner actor Shia LaBeouf. Soon after the lawsuit was revealed by The New York Times, Australian singer Sia, who worked with LaBeouf on a 2015 music video, also <a href="https://www.insider.com/shia-labeouf-sexual-assault-lawsuit-sia-calls-pathological-liar-2020-12">tweeted her own allegations</a> against the actor, calling him a "pathological liar" who conned her into an "adulterous <keyword id="6355233" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Relationship">relationship</keyword>, claiming to be single." These recent allegations are the latest and darkest in a long and violent line of misdemeanors that have plagued but never halted LaBeouf's career.In fact, as LaBeouf's private life became increasingly violent and abusive, so did the characters he played onscreen, creating a toxic cycle of abuse that rewards extreme behavior with lucrative roles, critical acclaim, and leaves LaBeouf victims vulnerable at the center.<h2>LaBeouf was positioned to be Hollywood's next big leading man</h2><h2><div type="image" title="Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox" height="1503" width="2004" msid="80269794" hostid="261"></div></h2>The 34-year-old actor, and one-time star of the Disney Channel's popular family comedy "Even Stevens," began his big-screen career in the position most former child actors and their parents pray for: at the feet of Steven Spielberg. The pair worked together on the 2007 thriller "Disturbia," which Spielberg executive produced, and when LaBeouf officially traded in his Disney credentials, he found himself at DreamWorks taking up the role of Spielberg's go-to tween. The legendary director handpicked LaBeouf to be the face of Michael Bay's "Transformers" franchise and drafted him in as the son - and heir apparent - of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones in 2008's "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."Back then, LaBeouf was assumed to be Hollywood's bankable lead for his generation - an admittedly talented white man who could be cast in any role from action thriller to family comedy.In 2007 when he was only 21, Vanity Fair put him on the cover of its August issue <a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2007/8/landing-in-hollywood">with the title "the next Tom Hanks."</a> "He was being positioned as a mega Hollywood male star," Stacy Jones, CEO of Hollywood Branded, a Los Angeles-based <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword> marketing agency, told Insider. "He became not only a recognizable name, but one that can command and drive his peer audience to watch his films, making him largely responsible for bringing millions of dollars to the movies he has worked on."And he was paid handsomely too. By 2011, after the release of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/transformers-4-what-mark-wahlbergs-633470">LaBeouf was paid a reported $15 million</a>.A few years later, however, LaBeouf's rap sheet, which had previously been populated by juvenile misdemeanors, was becoming increasingly longer, fueled by repeated cases of public intoxication. It eventually led to <a href="https://www.insider.com/shia-labeouf-most-controversial-moments-timeline">numerous DUI, assault, and disorderly conduct cases. </a>But as LaBeouf's life became darker, the acting roles didn't stop coming. Instead, while he was persona non grata at Disney and excluded from all other family-friendly work, another side of the industry opened up and seemed to tap into his extreme and abusive behavior - knowing that audiences understand LaBeouf is willing to flagrantly push past the safe and established boundaries of dramatic performance. In 2012's "Lawless," for example, LaBeouf plays a young and violent moonshine maker during America's prohibition era. And his erratic behavior on set, <a href="https://ew.com/movies/2019/09/20/shia-labeouf-tom-hardy-lawless-naked-wrestling/">which included naked wrestling</a> with his co-star Tom Hardy, was so extreme that his female costar asked to leave the film.LaBeouf later explained that during the length of the film's shoot, he was fueled by <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2012/08/shia-labeouf-method-harassed-mia-wasikowska.html">so-called method drinking</a> in order to achieve a "drunk bloat" look.<div type="image" title="lawless shia labeouf tom hardy" height="908" width="1211" msid="80269795" hostid="261"></div>Soon after, he was enlisted by the infamous Danish director Lars Von Trier for the erotic and controversial "Nymphomaniac" series, which he followed up with a role in the WW2 drama "Fury" alongside Brad Pitt.Again, tales of his violent state on-set made it to the press. LaBeouf admitted to slashing his own face with a knife, pulling his tooth out, and refusing to shower for weeks on end to get into character. It was later reported that both Brad Pitt and director David Ayer repeatedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/06/shia-labeouf-brad-pitt-fury-no-wash">warned LaBeouf about his behavior</a> on set.A few months later, the actor made headlines once again after a video recording published by Entertainment Tonight shows LaBeouf arguing with his then-girlfriend actor Mia Goth. During the footage, LaBeouf can be heard saying: "This is the kind of thing that makes a person abusive." And later in the video after he has left the scene, he says: "If I'd have stayed there, I would've killed her."Soon after, LaBeouf enjoyed the best reviews of his career for his performance as an unruly, violent drifter in Andrea Arnold's epic road movie, "American Honey," which premiered at the Cannes film festival. LaBeouf himself acknowledged the trend of being rewarded for his bad behavior during a 2016 interview with Variety."I don't think I'd be working with the directors I've been working with if I had not f---ed up a bit," he said. "They wanted a f---ing fireball. They wanted a loose cannon."And in response, he willingly stepped into the role."Part of it was posturing," he said, speaking about his issues with alcoholism during the same interview with Variety. "I never knew how to drink. I never liked to drink, but I knew you had to drink.""It was a weird post-modern fascination with the f----ups. When I met Robert Downey Jr., I was like, 'Man, you got all this f-king texture. How do I do this? How do I build texture?'"<h2>'Where is the line between reality and fiction? Does it become blurred?'</h2><div type="image" title="Pieces of a Woman" height="1161" width="1549" msid="80269798" hostid="261"></div>Despite the industry's <a href="https://www.insider.com/me-too-hashtag-sexual-harassment-assault-2017-11">supposed reckoning with abuse</a> in the wake of #MeToo, particularly against women, LaBeouf's behavior didn't affect his ability to get hired all the way up to his most recent Netflix's new drama, "Pieces of a Woman." The powerful film is <a href="https://www.insider.com/vanessa-kirby-amazing-performance-pieces-of-a-woman-review-2020-9">led by British actress Vanessa Kirby</a> but is haunted by the eerie similarities between LaBeouf's violent, alcoholic character and the allegations reported in the Times.Independent Los Angeles-based casting director Nicki Katz, who has had an extensive career casting numerous award-winning films, commercials, and television shows told Insider that she is always searching for performers who can bring "authenticity" and the "willingness to dive into a character when they walk into a room." LaBeouf's "rugged" looks and "imperfect life" she explained would be seen as preferable traits for dark, dramatic roles. "So if I might be casting a role that is in recovery," she continued, "we might actually look at actors that have experienced recovery. But it might be a red flag if the actor's just got out of recovery, so that could be a typecasting scenario when you're not sure it's a safe choice for them or your crew." Although Katz explained that on many independent feature films, which LaBeouf has predominantly starred in over the last decade, "the budgets are so tight that you have to take risks" and "if an offer is made and the actor accepts then you set up a meeting with the director and see if they can creatively get on the same page and then give it the green light."This negotiation between "risk" and production perhaps explains part of the reason why so many dangerous practices have been able to pervade the film industry for so long. Still, it's impossible to ignore how what we see on the big screen can have both a direct and indirect impact on real-life, especially for the actors embodying oftentimes violent and abusive portrayals. Media psychologist Charlotte Armitage told Insider that, in many ways, acting out abusive behavior onscreen can often blur the lines for actors."The problem is if you have an abusive background and you have abusive tendencies, and then that continues to almost be rewarded in your film roles," she began, "it is reinforcing that negative behavior as a positive because you're acting it on screen." "And if actually the two people are quite closely linked, so the individual themselves is very similar to the character that they're playing, but the character gets recognition and film roles, and a heck of a lot of money for doing it, then that line will become blurred on some level for that individual, without a doubt," Armitage added. "Where is the line between reality and fiction?"<h2>'It's possible that there will be criminal charges, but unlikely'</h2><div type="image" title="Shia LaBeouf" height="2661" width="3991" msid="80269799" hostid="261"></div>The accusations leveled against LaBeouf in Twigs' lawsuit are both disturbing and plentiful. But legal experts told Insider that the actor is unlikely to face any legal consequences. "It's possible that there will be criminal charges, but unlikely," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told Insider. "<keyword id="29854" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="domestic-abuse">Domestic abuse</keyword> and sexual assault are two of the most under-reported crimes where the victims often don't come forward, but they're also the two most falsely reported crimes, and it's very difficult to pursue a criminal case as a prosecutor when there is no contemporaneous account of the assault or the violence."But Neama explained that the inconsistent apology LaBeouf gave to the Times, where he admits to having a "history of hurting the people closest to me," is unusual and helps the prosecutor's case.As does stylist Karolyn Pho, another ex of LaBeouf's, who described similarly violent experiences to the Times, some of which are also outlined in the lawsuit, including one incident where LaBeouf drunkenly pinned her to a bed and head-butted her until she bled."That is what we call a prior bad acts witnesses and that can be powerful," Neama said. "That's how Bill Cosby was convicted and Harvey Weinstein."When presented with the claims made against him, LaBeouf responded to the Times saying: "many of these allegations are not true"But within days of the allegations, Netflix scrubbed LaBeouf's presence from their "Pieces of a Woman" publicity material. His name is <a href="https://www.insider.com/netflix-awards-campaign-removed-shia-labeouf-fka-twigs-accusations-2020-12#:~:text=Shia%20LaBeouf%20has%20been%20removed,%22Pieces%20of%20a%20Woman.%22&amp;text=The%20changes%20have%20come%20after,physically%20and%20emotionally%20abused%20her.her.">no longer a part of the film's synopsis</a> and isn't featured in its "for your consideration" awards ads.The streamer's actions were swift - thankfully studios can no longer ignore allegations of abuse as they once did - though the amount of bad publicity makes its decision rather easy. But what happens next in this toxic cycle?Perhaps a better question for Hollywood's gatekeepers is how can they stop contributing, facilitating, and profiting from cycles of abuse for their bottom line?

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