Independent laboratory analysis conducted outside Hungary has shown that 70% of honey sold at Hungarian stores is “diluted” by adding sucrose and other substances. According to napi.hu, Agriculture Minister and champion scaremonger József Gráf ordered the investigation and asked the Hungarian Beepkeeper’s Association (Országos Magyar Méhészeti Egyesület) to send nine samples available at large supermarkets in Hungary to the Bremen-based Applica laboratory. The lab suspects that seven Hungarian and two foreign manufacturers are adding sugar and is threatening to turn to the public prosecutor’s office to ensure honeymakers play by the rules. Whether this means we should be up in arms about Hungarian, imported or supermarket honey (or all three) is unclear – surely flavor should be the number one criterion, closely followed by nutritional value. In any case, as we know not to trust Gráf, our advice is to ignore all of the above and just head down to the local market for the real thing from our favorite old mézes néni.
