Pure controversy

CSE's report on honey points to the need for better standards

India’s lax food standards stand exposed yet again with a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reporting widespread adulteration in branded honey. Almost all the top brands had passed the tests of purity in India but when the same brands were tested using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) currently being used globally, only three out of the 13 passed muster. These tests, carried out at a specialised laboratory in Germany, prove how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India. All the brands that failed the test advertised themselves as