Are You Sure That's Honey? - Mara Grunbaum
Are You Sure That's Honey? - Mara Grunbaum
Are You Sure That's Honey? - Mara Grunbaum
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Bryant uses a similar strategy<br />
with honey, but instead of comparing<br />
DNA, he compares pollen. Pollen<br />
sticks to bees as they collect nectar,<br />
and some of it winds up in the honey<br />
they make. Under a microscope,<br />
pollen grains from different plants<br />
look very different from one another.<br />
To examine a honey sample,<br />
Bryant mixes it with water and<br />
alcohol and puts it in a centrifuge,<br />
which spins it around at high speed<br />
until the heavy pollen separates<br />
from the lighter components. Then<br />
he extracts the pollen, mounts it on<br />
a glass slide, and peers at it under a<br />
microscope.<br />
Sometimes Bryant knows what<br />
plant the pollen came from right<br />
away. Other times he compares<br />
it with pollen samples in a giant<br />
reference file he keeps in drawers in<br />
his lab. Since certain types of plants<br />
grow only in particular regions, identifying<br />
the pollen tells him where in<br />
the world the honey came from. And<br />
if there’s not enough pollen in the<br />
sample, it’s a sign that the honey may<br />
have been diluted with something<br />
like high-fructose corn syrup.<br />
FIGHTING FRAUD<br />
To Bryant’s dismay, some sly<br />
honey producers have started<br />
straining the pollen grains out of<br />
their products. That makes their<br />
origins impossible to trace. “We<br />
suspect that a large percentage of<br />
the honey that is coming into the<br />
U.S. is coming in with no pollen,”<br />
says Bryant. That means you can’t<br />
tell if it’s good honey or not, or<br />
where it came from.<br />
Bryant and groups like the<br />
American Beekeeping Federation<br />
are advocating for new laws that<br />
would outlaw this so-called “honey<br />
laundering.” Meanwhile, Spink works<br />
with agencies like the FDA to make<br />
rules against food fraud and improve<br />
inspections to catch it. He also helps<br />
food suppliers choose ingredients<br />
that are less likely to be counterfeit.<br />
But scientists like Spink and<br />
Bryant need help. Reports from<br />
regular people are how the authorities<br />
know there’s a problem they<br />
need to investigate in the first place.<br />
“If you think something doesn’t<br />
taste right or something makes<br />
you sick, you need to call the local<br />
board of health and let them know,”<br />
says Spink. “<strong>You</strong>r tips are their early<br />
warning system.” 9<br />
—<strong>Mara</strong> <strong>Grunbaum</strong><br />
WHAT DO YOU THINK?<br />
Cite three examples of counterfeit<br />
foods mentioned in the<br />
text. How do scientists work to<br />
identify these fakes?<br />
OTHER FOOD FAKES<br />
Some food manufacturers sneak cheaper ingredients into their<br />
products as a way to boost their profits. In addition to honey and<br />
milk, these are some of the most frequently counterfeit products that<br />
testing has caught:<br />
FOOD<br />
OLIVE<br />
OIL<br />
COCOA POWDER<br />
ORANGE<br />
JUICE<br />
CHEESE<br />
COFFEE<br />
SAFFRON<br />
MAPLE<br />
SYRUP<br />
REPLACEMENT<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
hazelnut, soybean, or<br />
other lower-quality oils<br />
soybean flour, sesame<br />
meal, peanut shells<br />
grapefruit juice, highfructose<br />
corn syrup,<br />
or sugar water<br />
soy protein, or cow’s<br />
milk instead of goat’s<br />
milk or sheep’s milk<br />
ground and roasted<br />
corn, barley or other<br />
plants<br />
onion roots, other<br />
plant parts, red and<br />
yellow dye<br />
corn syrup, beet sugar<br />
or other sweeteners<br />
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