Non-pollen particulates in honey and sugar

A total of 19 honey samples, mostly from Germany but also from France, Italy, Spain and Mexico, were analysed for non-pollen particulates. Only coloured fibres and fragments were quantified. Transparent fibres, considered to be cellulosic because they could be stained with fuchsin, were not quantifi...

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Published in:Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment, 2013-12, Vol.30 (12), p.2136-2140
Main Authors: Liebezeit, Gerd, Liebezeit, Elisabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apoidea
Bees
Biological and medical sciences
cane sugar
Cellulose - analysis
Cellulose - chemistry
Consumer Product Safety
contamination
Dietary Sucrose - chemistry
Dietary Sucrose - economics
Europe
Filtration
Food additives
Food Contamination
Food Handling
Food industries
Food processing industry
foreign matter
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Germany
Honey
Honey - analysis
Honey - economics
Mexico
particle
Particle Size
particulates
Pigmentation
Plant Extracts - chemistry
Plant Stems - chemistry
Saccharum - chemistry
Sugar
sugars
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Summary:A total of 19 honey samples, mostly from Germany but also from France, Italy, Spain and Mexico, were analysed for non-pollen particulates. Only coloured fibres and fragments were quantified. Transparent fibres, considered to be cellulosic because they could be stained with fuchsin, were not quantified. Coloured material was found in all the samples investigated. Fibre counts ranged from 40/kg to 660/kg of honey, with a mean value of 166 ± 147/kg of honey, whereas fragments were considerably less abundant (0–38/kg of honey; mean 9 ± 9/kg of honey). Sources are tentatively identified as environmental, that is particles having been transported by the bees into the hive, or having been introduced during honey processing or both. In addition, five commercial sugars were analysed. In all the refined samples, transparent and coloured fibres (mean 217 ± 123/kg of sugar) and fragments (32 ± 7/kg of sugar) were found. Unrefined cane sugar had 560 fibres and 540 fragments per kilogram of honey. In addition, in both honey and sugar samples, granular non-pollen material was observed.
ISSN:1944-0057
1944-0049
1944-0057
DOI:10.1080/19440049.2013.843025