India Issues Standards For Honey

Recently some reports have been appeared in the newspapers regarding the permitted levels of antibiotics in honey. The following advisory is issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority to clarify the issues involved.

Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretions of plants.

When visually inspected, the honey shall be free from any foreign matter such as mould, dirt, scum, pieces of beeswax, the fragments of bees and other insects and from any other extraneous matter.

The colour of honey varies from light to dark brown.

            Standards for honey have been prescribed under Prevention Food Adulteration (PFA) Rules, 1955 as under.

(a) Specific gravity at 27OC                         Not less than 1.35

(b) Moisture                                                 Not more than 25 per cent by mass

(c) Total reducing sugars                             Not less than 65 per cent by mass

(c-i) for Carbia colossa and Honey dew      Not less than 60 per cent by mass

(d) Sucrose                                                   Not more than to 5.0 per cent by mass

(d-i) for Carbia colossa and Honey dew     Not more than 10 per cent by mass

(e) Fructose-glucose ratio                           Not less than 0.95

(f) Ash                                                          Not more than 0.5 percent by mass

(g) Acidity (Expressed as formic acid)        Not more than 0.2 per cent by mass

(h) Fiehe's test                                            Negative

(i) Hydroxy methyl furfural(HMF),                   Not more than 80mg/kg

                                                

If Fiehe's test is positive, and hydroxy methyl furfural (HMF) content is more than 80 milligram/kilogram, then fructose: glucose ratio should be 1.0 or more.

Rule 44 D provides for restriction on sale of Carbia Callosa and Honey dew. Carbia Collosa and Honey dew shall be sold only in sealed containers bearing AGMARK seal.

Rule 45 specifies that food resembling but not pure honey cannot be marked as honey. No person shall use the word „Honey‟ or any word, mark, illustration or device that suggests “Honey‟ on the label or any package of, or in any advertisement for, any food that resembles honey but is not pure honey.

Violation of the provisions of PFA Act/Rules attracts penal action.

            No pesticide residues or antibiotics are allowed in honey.

            The maximum limits of heavy metals in various foods are prescribed under PFA Rules, 1955. Rule 57 of PFA Rules prescribes the limits of contaminants under category “Foods not specified” (which includes honey) as follows:-

1. Lead                        Not more than 2.5 ppm

2. Copper                    Not more than 30.0 ppm

3. Arsenic                    Not more than 1.1 ppm

4. Tin                           Not more than 250.0 ppm

5. Zinc                         Not more than 50.0 ppm

6. Cadmium                Not more than 1.5 ppm

7. Mercury                  Not more than 1.0 ppm

8. Methyl Mercury     Not more than 0.25 ppm

Standards of Honey under AGMARK

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has laid down standards of honey under the Grading and Marking Rules (AGMARK), which lays down the grades, designation of honey as Special, Grade–A and Standard to indicate the quality of honey for the purpose of certification. It specifies the method of packing, marking and labeling and conditions for grant of certificate for authorization. The standards of AGMARK are voluntary.

In the matter of admissibility of antibiotics in honey, safety standards in India are similar to those in European Union, Codex Alimentarius and USA where they are completely prohibited.

  

Honey as an Antibiotic: Scientists Identify a Secret Ingredient in Honey That Kills Bacteria

Sweet news for those looking for new antibiotics: A new research published in the July 2010 print edition of the FASEB Journal explains for the first time how honey kills bacteria. Specifically, the research shows that bees make a protein that they add to the honey, called defensin-1, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

"We have completely elucidated the molecular basis of the antibacterial activity of a single medical-grade honey, which contributes to the applicability of honey in medicine," said Sebastian A.J. Zaat, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Medical Microbiology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. "Honey or isolated honey-derived components might be of great value for prevention and treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria."

To make the discovery, Zaat and colleagues investigated the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey in test tubes against a panel of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria. They developed a method to selectively neutralize the known antibacterial factors in honey and determine their individual antibacterial contributions. Ultimately, researchers isolated the defensin-1 protein, which is part of the honey bee immune system and is added by bees to honey. After analysis, the scientists concluded that the vast majority of honey's antibacterial properties come from that protein. This information also sheds light on the inner workings of honey bee immune systems, which may one day help breeders create healthier and heartier honey bees.

"We've known for millennia that honey can be good for what ails us, but we haven't known how it works," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, "Now that we've extracted a potent antibacterial ingredient from honey, we can make it still more effective and take the sting out of bacterial infections."

Honey makes the medicine go down!

Which honey is the best buy according to tests done by a consumer organisation?
Check that out!

A spoonful of honey, just like sugar, makes the medicine go down. But how good is the honey? To find out which is the best honey for you to buy, Consumer Education and Research Society, Ahmedabad, has tested 17 brands available in the market. They wanted to check out if the final product is pure or adulterated.

The brands tested were: Amrut, Baidyanath, Brij, Dabur, Dhanvantari, Himalayan, Hyness, Indian, KVIC Mumbai, Madh Sagar, Madhur, Mehsons, Push, Samskrithamadhu, Shreejee and West Bengal Bee Keeper’s Association.
The brands were tested against the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Agricultural Produce Grading and Marking Act (Agmark). The results were compared against the international standard, Codex Alimentarius. The PFA Act is mandatory.

CERC tested the honey for adulteration, quality, nutritive value, water content etc. It found a high sucrose content in some brands. And the quality was poor in some samples.

Though sucrose is naturally allowed in h oney, when it is beyond the limit (it should not be more than 5 per cent) it could be because the bees were artificially fed with sugar solution. Or the honey might be adulterated with sugar. The tests revealed that Shreejee with 9.1 and Indian with 11.4 were well over the limit. Madhur at 13.1 per cent showed the highest sucrose content. Such high levels showed adulteration. Dabur had the lowest sucrose content with 1.1 per cent.

Two loose samples taken from Ahmedabad showed that commercial invert sugar was used to adulterate them. CERC recommends that it is safer to buy branded honey. But here too, the problem was that many brands had a large amount of hydroxy methyl furfural (HMF) showing a poor quality.

Amruth (82) Baidyanath (191), Brij (145), KVIC Cochin (240) Madh Sagar (138) Pushp (148) and Shreejee (93) revealed poor quality. But even worse were Himalayan (396) KVIC Mumbai (311) and Madhur (316). Madhur also had a high sucrose content. Hyness (29 mg) showed the least HMF per kg, followed by Mehsons (40) and Dabur (48). This indicates good quality, says CERC.

The acidity test tells us when honey is spoilt due to fermentation. L2 (0.3 per cent) did not conform to the requirements in India of 0.2. With a low fructose-glucose ratio, honey forms granules or crystals faster instead of retaining its fluidity. Madhur failed in this respect.

The tested samples of honey gave energy in the range of 284 to 315 kilocalories per 100 gm of honey.

Honey gives energy. The samples tested gave energy in the range of 284 to 315 kilocalories per 100 gm of honey. The same quantity of milk would give you 117 and ripe mango 74 according to the Nutritive Value of Indian Foods published by the National Institute of Nutrition.

Three brands, namely, WBBKA, Madhur and Samskrithamadhu did not have the ‘best before’ date. Agmark brands, Dhanvantari and Himalayan did not mention the grade of honey on the label.

Again, Dabar scored the highest in flavour and after-taste! Mehsons was the best in clarity, followed by Dabur. In the overall sensory score, Dabur scored the highest, with 82, followed by Mehsons (81) and Baidyanath (78).

In England, honey mixed with cider vinegar is a popular home remedy for rheumatism and arthritis. In a study at a Nigerian teaching hospital, total application of unprocessed honey brought 'remarkable improvement' to 58 of 59 patients with wounds and ulcers that hadn't responded to more conventional treatment.

Honey really can speed healing of open wounds, say scientists.

Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the American Academy of Pediatrics say that to be safe, you should never give honey to children under one year old. Researchers at the University of Natal in South Africa found that when children with diarrhoea caused by a bacterial infection were given a honey solution, they got better in almost half the time of those who were given a traditional sugar solution.

Honey may work against constipation as well. It can help speed wound healing, ease ulcer pain and relieve constipation and diarrhoea, says Prevention Health Books.

Try out your own home made citrus honey.

For more information on the CERC tests read Insight, The Consumer Magazine, November-December 2003. CERC’s address is given in the Q & A column.

CITRUS HONEY

How to make citrus honey: one strip one inch into half inch, orange rind, one strip lemon rind, one tablespoon fresh orange juice, two teaspoons fresh lemon juice and one cup honey.

In a small saucepan combine the orange rind, lemon rind, orange juice and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve; discard the rinds. In a separate pan, heat the honey until just warm. Stir the juice into the warmed honey and serve immediately.

Makes one cup. Citrus Honey can be stored in a capped jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Reheat gently in the microwave or on the stovetop before serving over pancakes, waffles or French toast etc.

How about Alfalfa in Chitradurga??

Alfalfa is used as an herb in alternative herbal treatments to treat ailments and problems such as menopause discomfort, cancer fighting and lowering cholesterol including several other discomforts. Though Alfalfa is hugely used in India, it is basically of western Asian and the eastern Mediterranean nativity. 

The common name of the herb Alfalfa is Lucerne of the pea family and is called Medicago sativa by the botanical name. Mainly the sprouts, stems, dried leaves and seeds are used for different purposes. Alfalfa is a slim bushy perennial with blue-green trifoliate leaves and mauveto purple flowers with seeds in sickle-shaped pods.  

Alfalfa lives from three to twelve years, depending on variety and climate. It resembles clover with clusters of small purple flowers. The plant grows to a height of up to 1 metre (3 ft), and has a deep root system sometimes stretching to 4.5 metres (15 ft). These characteristics make the herb very resilient, especially to droughts. It has a tetraploid genome. The plant exhibits auto toxicity, which means that it is difficult for alfalfa seed to grow in existing stands of alfalfa. It has also been recommended that alfalfa fields should be rotated with other species like corn or wheat before reseeding. The root nodules of Alfalfa contains bacteria, Sinorhizobium meliloti, as observed in other legumes with the ability to fix nitrogen, producing a high-protein feed regardless of available nitrogen in the soil and is considered as the highest yielding forage plant. This herb is extensively grown in different parts of India including Coimbatore district of TamilNadu,southernIndia.  

Though the primary use of Alfalfa lies in feeding for dairy cattle because of its high protein content, it has been used as an herbal medicine for at least 1500 years. Maintaining the ancient tradition of Ayurveda, Alfalfa is considered to be effective in treating various diseases. Ingestion of alfalfa seeds or sprouts may be associated with a decrease in blood cell production while the leaves and stems provide a good source of protein as well as vitamins and minerals. This herb contains organic acids, free amino acids, non-protein amino acids like canavinine, strachydrine, coumarins, isoflavonoids, saponins and steroids such as b-sitosterol, campesterol, stigamsterol and others. It contains vitamins A, D, E and K as well as chlorophyll and carotene and minerals such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. This herbal plant also contains plenty of fiber with anticholesterolemic properties. The high concentration of vitamin K found in whole alfalfa has beneficial effect on several forms of hemolytic disease. This herb is extensively used in Ayurveda and other parts of alternative treatments like Naturopathy, Homeopathy etc in all over India for its wide usage. The practitioners of alternative treatment use Alfalfa for its cooling, sweet, and astringent properties that cleanse toxins from tissues. Moreover this herb is diuretic, controls bleeding and lowers cholesterol levels and even influences hormones and the circulatory and urinary systems.

Alfalfa(Farmers) ----> fodder(feeds for Dairy farming, Sheep rearing, Goat rearing)-----> Beekeeping

  

In Chitradurga, new projects of sheep and goat rearing are being incepted. To fulfill the requirements about feeds for cattle, sheep and goats, Alfalfa is the best. This implementation will benefit 3 groups of agriculture.

Farmers, feeds for livestock in cattle or sheep rearing and for beekeepers..   

                                                                                       

By migrating colonies to alfalfa field, we can harvest more honey in district along with sunflower and sesame.

The recommendation from the department of veterinary to the dairy farm and sheep farm owners and support from the state govt. to farmers to promote growing alfalfa is required.  

Alfalfa honey has a sweet mild flavor with a scent similar to bees wax. The honey ranges from a near clear to a light amber color. Alfalfa is an important honey crop in the western United States.

Need of pollination in Chitradurga

Pollinating for onion seed production. As we know that, every 3rd spoon we eat is the contribution of honey bees. Over 95% of food crops are pollinated from bees. Keeping Bee hives in the farms will increase the production and yield of the crops. In Chitradurga(Karnataka State,India) farmers grow sunflower,safflower, red gram, Sesame and horticulture crops like pomegranate,mosambi, watermelon, lemon, vegetables etc.. All these crops require 100% pollination to get triple yield which is only possible from honey bees. Intermittent rains and usage of some dangerous insecticides is the result of decrease in number of natural bee hives.
If we keep the bee hives as shown above, we can get  100% pollination and will increase the farmer's estimated crop yield and thus the economy of the district will also increase.
Especially in sunflower crops we can extract large quantity of honey which generates employment for the rural youth to produce honey and selling them.

Brood disease in Apis cerana colonies

Dead larvae

Testing for AFB by adding milk

bottom looks like this

Worker bees throwing out the dead larvae

Brood disease in an headache for a beekeeper. But if he is well trained to identify initial symptoms of this disease, some damage control can be achieved. However this disease can be cured by 2 methods 

Feeding with sugar and medicines 

Three main medicines were found to be useful for treatment of brood diseases in Apis cerana in Jumla. EFB responded to all three treatments and TSBV to the herbal treatments only.

       i.            'Terramycin' (oxytetracycline) antibiotic powder (as recommended by Morse and Nowogrodzki 1990, Akratanakul 1987, etc.) mixed into sugar syrup in dosages of 60-65 mg per colony and fed on alternate days for a total of three times.

     ii.            Azadirachta indica (neem) oil mixed in sugar syrup at dosage of 2-3 drops per colony depending of the size of the colony. This is fed at least three times per colony on alternate days but may need to be fed for up to seven doses in total, depending on the severity of the infection. Care must be taken with dosages as high concentrations of neem oil will kill the bees feeding on the syrup.

  iii.            Ayurvedic (herbal) medicine formulated by Kaminee Vaidya of Tribhuvan University using the following measurements (for approx. 1/2 litre of water):

Herbal plant species	Approx. measurement
Curcuma longa (Enlgish name – ‘turmeric’) -better if raw & pure	1 teaspoon of powder or 1 small piece of raw root
Artemisia indica or A. dubia (local name ‘titepati’)	1 handful
Melia azederach (local name ‘bagaino’)	1 handful
Jasminum officinale (local name ‘Chameliko phul’)	1/6th of a handful (or 7 flowers)
Equisetum sp. (local name ‘Kukure Ghass’ / English name ‘horse tail’)	15 grams or about 1/2 handful

These should be boiled together for 5-10 minutes and the resulting decoction used to make sugar syrup for feeding colonies. If herbs were dried, less could be used but in the same proportions. Local varieties of all the plants except Melia and C. longa are found in Jumla and turmeric is used in cooking in every household. One local beekeeper tried Swertia chirata and / or Swertia recemosa (locally called Chiraiti or Pate Tito and Danthe Tito respectively) in place of Melia with positive results. Artemisia can be used instead rather than in addition to Melia also.

Although the antibiotic removed disease symptoms more rapidly than the herbal 

  

'Apis cerana Indica', our local species

Farmers getting trained for beekeeping. The above pictures show how we can get the natural hives and how we can domesticate them. Apis Cerana indica( in kannada 'thuduve jenu') is a local species which we can find in many natural habitat like anthills,abandoned tyres, box, holes in coconut trees etc.. We train farmers to capture them and domesticate them in the bee boxes. We can extract honey which is very rich in nutrition. Cerana's honey is in great demand than that of the European species mellifera. Efforts are required to encourage and support a farmer if he wants to start up beekeeping for both pollination and honey production.   

'Apis dorsata', Major pollinators of india

Interesting pictures of collecting limited honey from the apis dorsata colony..
By following this procedure we can save these major pollinators of nature..

Apis-Dorsata is a large bee found in india and other asian countries.
These aggressive bees can establish there colony inside the city because they can travel nearly 6kms to collect nectar and pollens. In india, we can find these hives in the buildings,trees etc..
These bees are very aggressive when provoked. They chase until they sting on you!!.
There are some reports which says these hives were used in war in ancient ages and in some places like temples they are considered as the protectors of the temple...
one hive may consist of more than 90,000 bees.
Indian crops which are based on flowers and fruits are alive and in scope today because of Apis-Dorsata..
That applies for indian farmers too.. We should honor these untamable insects...