"Honey merchants sold more than 3.5 tonnes of potentially counterfeit honey
The State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT) found that Lithuanian producer UAB „Medaus merkliai“ had produced and placed on the market more than 3.5 tonnes of honey, which, after testing, showed that it was not authentic.The company has been investigated by the MOH for possible food adulteration, and has also been found to have breached labelling due to possible misleading of consumers.
Laboratory tests carried out by the German QSI laboratory have shown that honey sold in Lithuania labelled as "EU" and "non-EU" honey has been found to contain extraneous sugars, indicating that the quality of the honey is not in line with the composition and quality of honey collected naturally from the wild.
„This is very unfair to the consumer, as consumers expected to buy honey produced by bees, but instead we found extraneous sugars in the content of this producer's product. This pattern of attempting to market supposedly authentic honey is not only a gross deception of consumers, but also an economic and moral harm to Lithuanian beekeepers, who work hard to look after the bees and prepare the honey. We will continue to investigate the composition and quality of the honey on the market to ensure that the honey supplied to consumers meets the characteristics of honey and does not mislead as to its true composition," said Audronė Mikalauskienė, Head of the VMVT. She said that further investigations will continue with sampling and evaluation of honey on the Lithuanian market.
The MoHFW has instructed UAB „Medaus pirkliai“ to ensure that the suspended honey is not made available on the market and to inform the economic operators to whom the products have been made available of the suspension of the supply of honey on the market within 24 hours of receiving the decision. The operators who have been informed must immediately cease the sale of the batches of honey in question and must inform the recipients and/or the consumers thereof.
The investigation continues.
Honey produced by UAB „Medaus pirkliai“ that does not comply with the EU requirements for honey and is provisionally suspended from the market:
