endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 13) Most honey products being sold in markets contain sugar syrup instead of pure honey, Department of Science and Technology researchers found.
Using nuclear-based tests, researchers from the agency s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) found these products contain syrups made from sugarcane and corn, said the DOST in a recent release. Around 62 (82%) out of the 76 of honey brands that were found to be adulterated were composed of 95% C4 sugar syrup. So, they are not actually adulterated but they are just completely purely sugar syrup, explained DOST-PNRI s Dr. Angel Bautista VII.
The researchers used stable carbon isotope ratio analysis, which helps give clues on the analyzed substance s origin. Adulterated honey has carbon isotopes which may be traced from sugarcane and corn, unlike real honey, whose carbon isotopes match those found in flowering plants and bees.