(FoodNavigator-USA) First came real milk proteins without cows, then egg proteins without chickens, and collagen without animals … and now honey, minus the bees? While the company won’t discuss the details of the proprietary process, it confirms that synthetic biology and microbial fermentation are involved, technologies now deployed by a growing number of companies to produce everything from whey protein to vitamins.
(Insider) Honey is the third-most-faked food in the world, behind milk and olive oil. “Honey launderers” fool authenticity tests by making chemical modifications, making it hard to trace where the honey came from.
(The Guardian) Researchers from the University of Oxford say Honey may be better than conventional treatments for coughs, blocked noses and sore throats.
(ScienceDaily, University of Queensland) Examination of honey from five different stingless bee species across Neotropical and Indo-Australian regions has identified the unusual disaccharide trehalulose as a major component representing between 13 and 44 g per 100 g of each of these honeys. The previously unrecognized abundance of trehalulose in stingless bee honeys supports some of the reported health attributes of this product. According to the researchers, trehalulose is a rare sugar with a low glycemic index and not found as a major component in other foods.
(EurekAlert/Shinshu University) Manuka honey contains multiple bioactive ingredients that aid in healing. Electrospinning is a type of fiber production that uses electrical force to draw extremely fine threads from polymer solutions. Researchers at Shinshu University in Japan have found just the right technique for spinning dressings made with manuka honey that are antimicrobial, breathable and can promote wound healing in virto.
(CTV) Scandia Honey imports 20,000 bee packages each season, which are used to start new hives or replace ones that die over winter. This year, because of shipping restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic, they got none. The company says that will put a strain on Canada’s honey supply. An even bigger problem for Canada might be the effect a drop in the number of beehives will have on agriculture: bee hives are used by seed companies to pollinate their crops to produce the seed stock for next year.
(ABC) After months of prolonged drought, followed by devastating bushfires, vital rain has rescued an Australian farmer’s honey production after a barren 2019. But just like the wine industry is dealing with grapes affected by smoke taint, there is expected to be a flavor impact on honey as well.
(Reuters) Beekeepers in China, the world’s top honey producer, are bracing for a bleak start to the key spring pollinating season as travel curbs aimed at containing a coronavirus outbreak keep them at home while their bees go without food for weeks.
