Austria trials DNA testing to uncover honey fraud | Business

Between 2021 and 2022, 46% of the honey tested under an EU investigation as it entered the bloc was flagged as potentially adulterated. (Micha Pawlitzki/ Getty Images). A laboratory in Austria is DNA testing about 100 honey samples a month to determine whether they have been adulterated.When a honey sample contains a high proportion of DNA traces from rice or corn - this indicates a honey is not genuine.Besides cheating consumers, fake honey threatens the livelihood of beekeepers, who struggle to compete with the far lower prices of imported honey.For climatechange news and analysis, go toNews24 Climate Future.At a laboratory in Austria's mountainous Tyrol province, scientists are DNA testing about 100 honey samples a month to learn about their composition - and in some cases to determine whether they have been adulterated.With fake honey flooding markets, and only a few European laboratories running such analysis, the small Austrian company Sinsoma began offering the tests two years a...