Kuala Lumpur: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry reportedly said it will be looking into the claim that 90 per cent of honey products on sale here are fake.
New Straits Times quoted its minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali saying that he had instructed the ministry's enforcement officers to further dig into the matter.
"I have instructed the ministry's enforcement division to obtain further information from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),” he was quoted saying.
Armizan further stated that the industry faces significant threats and challenges from fake honey.
He added that laboratory testing is necessary to distinguish between real honey, which offers benefits in terms of content, efficacy, and quality.
Armizan, who is also the Papar MP, was responding to a report that was published yesterday quoting a senior lecturer in the Neuroscience Department at Universiti Sains Malaysia's School of Medical Sciences, Dr Zulkifli Mustafa.
In the study, he asserted that 90 per cent of the nation's honey market, which includes stingless bee honey, is currently comprised of fake goods.
The report said Dr Zulkifli had written and published journal articles on the benefits of stingless bee honey, and also on the adulteration of these honey products with vinegar to mimic its taste.
