The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for setting a loose label standard for honey products, saying that it might cause confusion among consumers.
A news release issued by Control Yuan members Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Tsai Chung-yi (蔡崇義) yesterday said the Ministry of Health and Welfare on May 11, 2022, announced the labeling standard for packaged honey and other syrup products, which took effect on July 1 last year.
However, while the labeling standard stipulates that “honey content must account for at least 60 percent of the ingredients” for the product to use the term “honey,” Tien and Tsai’s investigation found that the FDA does not have the technical ability to test the honey content of products.
Photo: Chen Chien-hung, Taipei Times
The standard is regarded as merely empty words, as none of the products have been tested for honey content since it took effect, they said, adding that the inspectors could only examine the labels, but were unable to verify whether the honey content marked on the label is accurate.
Moreover, citing the Codex Alimentarius standard for honey, which includes “as far as practicable, be free from inorganic or organic matter foreign to its composition” and “none permitted” for food additives, Tien and Tsai said the FDA’s standard for allowing honey mixed with syrup up to 40 percent to be called “sugar-added honey” varies from international standards.
Moreover, the FDA’s standard is even looser than the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ CNS1305 standard for honey, defined as nectar or honeydew from plants collected by bees, and mixed with their own secretions, transformed, dehydrated, stored and brewed into a natural sweet substance, they said.
“The FDA allowing honey mixed with syrup to use the term ‘honey’ on its product name might confuse consumers, which could result in low-quality honey undermining the reputation of good honey,” they said, adding that the FDA should review and improve its standards for products.
In addition, they said the size of the “domestically produced honey certification mark” by the Ministry of Agriculture is too small, preventing consumers from recognizing it at a glance
Since the ministry began pushing for traceability to the local honey industry in 2020, less than 20 percent of the industry has adopted it, they said, adding that the ministry should continue to promote traceability and improve the mark to allow consumers to purchase good quality, local honey.
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