Bees for Development Journal 63
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY BANS CHINESE HONEY UK Food Standards Agency Press Release,
19 February 2002
All jars of Chinese and blended honey (unless shown not to be of Chinese origin) should be withdrawn from Sale, says the UK Food Standards Agency. The call comes in the wake of tests that revealed traces of the
antibiotic chloramphenicol in some jars of Chinese and blended honey. The Agency began the tests on honey because of concerns about a lack of
found pose an extremely small risk. The main known risk from
controls on the use of veterinary drugs in China. In the latest results, illegal
chloramphenicol relates to aplastic anaemia, a rare but serious blood
residues of chloramphenicol were found in ten out of 16 samples. In the EU it is
disorder that affects 50 to 100 people a year in the UK. Chloramphenicol may
illegal to use chloramphenicol on animals where they, or their products,
also be linked to cancer.
are destined for human consumption.
A meeting of independent scientific experts, convened by the Agency to assess whether the residues pose a risk to consumers, concluded that the levels
The APIMONDIA Symposium Prevention of residues in honey will be held in Celle, Germany in October 2002 (details in Look Ahead page 11).
The Agency advises that, because of the extremely small risk, people can continue to eat honey they have already bought, regardless of the country of origin. This
advice also applies to foods that contain honey, where the risk is even lower.
EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION AND HONEY by Peter Martin, UK
BfD 59 we gave details of the European Union (EU) Commission legislation to prevent honey containing residues of antibiotics, pyrethroids, organochlorines or heavy metals from being imported into Europe. In this article Peter Martin, an expert honey analyst, provides more information on EU legislation and its relevance to the honey industry around the world. In
In 1990 the EU laid down the procedure for establishing maximum residue limits (MRLs) of veterinary drugs in foodstuffs
of animal origin. This is to protect consumers and public health. The use of
Annex IV lists the drugs for which no MRLs can be set because the drugs are
EU member states. Some countries reject honey containing above the limit of
regarded as too dangerous. These drugs are chloramphenicol, (the drug found
detection of those drugs while others apply an Action Level such as 50 ppb. However, it must be stressed that the
antibiotics leads to the possibility of resistance in target pathogens and must
recently in Chinese honey that has led to the ban on import of all Chinese honey into the EU), nitrofurans
be controlled. The Regulation has four
including furazolidone, ronidazole,
Annexes. Annex
dapsone, dimetridazole, colchicine, chlorpromazine, chloroform and
is a list of the
substances for which MRLs have been fixed for specified species. None has been fixed for use with bees. Annex II is a list of substances for which no
MRL
is
necessary. In the case of bees,
fluvalinate, flumethrin, formic acid, lactic acid, menthol, thymol and mixed oils, that are all Varroa treatments, are listed.
Annex
III
lists substances for which
provisional MRLs have been set. In relation to bees these are Cymiazole,
(1000 ppb*), Amitraz (200 ppb) and Coumaphos (100 ppb), again these are all Varroa treatments.
presence of these drugs in honey is illegal at any level. That situation may change if it proves possible to obtain MRLs for their use in beekeeping.
metronidazole.
essential that all beekeepers avoid the use of Annex IV drugs, both to
Antibiotics such as streptomycin, tetracyclines, penicillins and
protect consumers wherever they are and to protect the good name and selling of
sulphonamides have MRLs for use on large animals but are illegal for use with
honey. Very low levels of these drugs can be detected and the honey from one
bees except under the guidance of a veterinarian when tetracyclines may be used for European foulbrood. In that case
beekeeper could contaminate a large amount of honey if it is being combined for bulk export. Such honey will be
no honey can be harvested until the
destroyed if found in the EU.
expiry of a withdrawal period for example, two months. At present
application of the law in relation to these safer antibiotics is not harmonised in A Bees for Development publication
It is
Beekeepers everywhere should use good husbandry rather than drugs to keep their bees healthy. (*ppb
=
parts per billion)
