$1m honey export order seized

SEIZED: The New Zealand Food Safety Authority is tight-lipped about the seizure of a $1m honey order

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A $1 million honey export order being packed in Timaru has been seized by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

The product, labelled as honey, was detained last month, NZFSA's assistant director of operation response, Justin Rowlands, confirmed yesterday.

The authority was saying little about the incident, which few in the industry had heard about.

Rowlands said the authority's staff were gathering information to determine whether the product complied with the Animal Products Act and the Food Act.

He would not comment on where the honey had come from, which market it was destined for, or the nature of the possible breach.

Rowlands said the authority would not make further comment until the investigation was completed.

It is understood the issue related to the unique manuka factor (UMF) of the honey.

New Zealand Honey Producers Co- op general manager, Warren Reynolds, said the honey had not been seized from his company's South Canterbury factory.

"I'm pleased to see the NZFSA has stopped this shipment and is doing what it should do to protect the industry."

Honey Valley New Zealand also packs honey in Timaru for the domestic and overseas markets at its Washdyke factory.

Company managing director Steve Lyttle could not be contacted yesterday.

Active Manuka Honey Association brand manager John Rawcliffe was also unaware of the seizure.

Eighteen months ago it was revealed his organisation had stepped up testing to identify honey producers among its membership whose product was not true to the UMF label.

UMF is an antibacterial property which is naturally present in some strains of manuka honey, but not all.

Manuka honey with the special UMF antibacterial property is highly sought-after for its health-giving qualities.

The University of Waikato has been investigating the healing properties of New Zealand manuka honey for almost 30 years.

Laboratory studies have shown UMF manuka honey is effective against a wide range of very resistant bacteria including the major wound-infecting bacteria and stomach ulcer causing bacteria helicobacter pylori.

The UMF activity is additional to the usual active properties of honey. Not all manuka honey has the UMF activity and the strength varies among those that do.

The higher the UMF factor the greater the strength of the UMF antibacterial property in the honey. The honey is tested in a licensed laboratory after packing to establish its UMF strength.

A UMF 5 rating is the minimum to qualify to use the name UMF and be suitable for treating infections. Fairfax

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