The development comes six months after the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said samples of 10 leading Indian honey products were found to be adulterated with sugar syrup, which the manufacturers denied.
Why in News?
Indian honey makers including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Hamdard Laboratories and Hitkary, in addition to advisory firm Consocia, have collaborated to form an India Honey Alliance (IHA), which they said was aimed at dealing with adulteration and to provide direction to implement best industry practices.
India Honey Alliance (IHA) is a unified platform to ensure maximum benefits to the consumer and growth for the entire value chain of the honey industry. IHA is an all-inclusive alliance of stakeholders from honey companies, exporters, bee-keepers, farmers, processors, and scientific domain experts. All the members are committed to the highest standards of quality and are compliant with the current stringent Indian and global standards.
IHA to work towards developing and strengthening the ecosystem for Indian honey. IHA in collaboration with Indian and International experts, would continue to promote science-based quality standards for Indian honey to improve the current practices of sourcing, testing, packaging etc. to ensure that Indian honey becomes the preferred choice.
Key facts
The India Honey Alliance (IHA), comprises honey companies, exporters, bee-keepers, farmers, processors, and science experts from across the country.
The report led to food regulator FSSAI stating that it will consider revising standards and regulations for packaged honey sold in the country.
“IHA has initiated dialogue with the Centre and is working closely with consumers and scientific bodies to take scalable technology to farmers and apiarists,” the statement said.
IHA chairperson Shahrukh Khan said the alliance would address myths and misconceptions about honey and its purity, and concerns about adulteration. Category sales of honey have been growing in double digits, since it is known for its immunity boosting properties.
At the time of releasing the report on honey adulteration, CSE director general Sunita Narain had said 10 of 13 honey brands failed an NMR test, which is the only one that detects ‘Chinese sugar’ used to adulterate honey. NMR tests were made mandatory in August to screen honey meant for exports but is not part of FSSAI’s standards, the CSE report had stated.
National Bee Board
Keeping in view the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, India government approved the allocation for Rs. 500 crore for National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23). The mission was announced as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat scheme. NBHM aims for the overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’ which is being implemented through National Bee Board (NBB).
Honey production has increased from 76,150 MTs (2013-14) to 1,20,000 MTs (2019-20). Export of honey has increased from 28,378.42 MTs (2013-14) to 59536.74MTs (2019-20) which is 109.80 % increase.
(PIB, Economic Times)
