Honey fraud: Novel syrups detected in 2025
17 Dec 2025
It's no secret that honey is among the most adulterated foods worldwide.
Adding syrups, falsifying origins, mixing in cheaper components, and feeding bees outside of good beekeeping practices remain common in the global market. However, in 2024 and 2025, the number of samples testing positive for a novel syrup marker, previously not considered a common adulteration method, increased. This blog post explores when this marker emerged, how laboratories identify it, and its potential impact on the industry.
The emergence of a novel syrup marker
In the end of 2024, testing laboratories began to see unusual results from routine authenticity tests via Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS). The peaks shown in the data identified a new syrup that was either being added to bulk out batches of honey or being fed to bees to produce larger yields. Authenticity experts across the industry then set to work on developing test methods to specifically identify this novel syrup and began to offer testing to clients.
How can this novel syrup be detected?
At Intertek, our authenticity experts offer a developed specialised LC-HRMS methods to identify the presence of this novel syrup marker. This proprietary method is combined with a suite of other authenticity tests to provide an accurate picture of the honey’s profile and authenticity. LC-HRMS is a method that uses liquid chromatography to separate honey samples into individual components, which are then analysed in a high-resolution mass spectrometer. This precisely measures the mass-to-charge ratio of each molecule present. This read-out is shown as a collection of peaks on a graph and allows for accurate identification and quantification of compounds.
What does this new syrup marker mean for the honey industry?
Honey fraud has been a significant and growing issue in the food industry for several decades, and improvements in testing technology have facilitated the introduction of stricter regulations, such as the upcoming European Union Breakfast Directive. In the US, True Source Honey, an organisation created to protect honey authenticity on the US market, is expected to update their standards from 1st January 2026 to reflect the emergence of this new syrup. It is expected that a decision on mandatory testing of True Source-approved imported honey to the US and approved testing laboratories will be part of this update in early 2026.
As with all methods of honey adulteration, this has a massive impact on the whole supply chain, from beekeepers, exporters, packers and retailers. All of whom experience the pain of non-authentic batches being rejected for import, honeys being reduced in grade to baker's honey, and loss of trust in previously solid supply chains.
If you’d like to learn more about the technical aspects of testing for this new syrup marker, join our Head of our LC-HRMS team, Tim Hollmann, on 14th January 2026 for our webinar on the topic. Register your place here.
