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publication date: May 12, 2010
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| European court rules beekeepers must prove |
The judgment by the European Court of Justice means that all jars of honey may have to be relabelled to show that they contain pollen, which manufacturers will have to prove is not genetically modified.
Patrick Robinson, the factory manager at Rowse Honey, Britain's biggest supplier of retail honey, said: "Honey has always contained pollen.
"Beekeepers don't put pollen in honey as an ingredient. Bees put it in there because it gets stuck to them when they are foraging.
"To say honey contains pollen is like saying peanuts contain nuts. There is a tiny amount of GM pollen all around the world now. But beekeepers do not tend to put their hives next to cultivated crops.
"I would be surprised if you found significant amounts of GM pollen in anyone's honey in this country."
Honey has always been considered an entirely pure product for the purposes of food labelling laws. But Europe's highest court has now decreed that pollen is an ingredient of honey rather than an intrinsic, natural component.
Rowse estimates that relabelling and testing all its products will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Industry experts warned that the "ludicrous" ruling could drive smaller British honey suppliers and beekeepers out of business.
The sticky situation arose after a German amateur beekeeper found small amounts of GM pollen in his honey.
Source: The Telegraph 07 Nov. 2011
Comvita's MEDIHONEY® Wound Care Sales Reaches Milestone Tuesday, 9 August 2011, 11:08 am Comvita's global licensee for Medihoney® specialist wound care products, Derma Sciences Inc has announced it has achieved a key milestone for sales of MEDIHONEY®. Chairman and CEO of Derma Sciences, Edward J. Quilty, said the rapid growth in MEDIHONEY® sales, which more than doubled in the first quarter of this year compared with last year, is due to the expansion of their sales team over the past year both in the U.S. and abroad. "It is also due to the recognition among wound care clinicians of the excellent healing effects of this product, both anecdotally in their own patients and in published peer reviewed articles. With an annual run rate of more than USD $7.0 million now, and the expected launch next year of our recently 510(k)-cleared patented MEDIHONEY® Hydrogel dressings, we are looking forward to increasing our investment in dedicated sales representatives to continue to accelerate growth not only in our MEDIHONEY® line, but in our growing portfolio of advanced wound care products , " said Mr Quilty. Comvita CEO Brett Hewlett said Comvita has been impressed by the dedication of the Derma Sciences team and commitment of resources to make MEDIHONEY® the world- leading brand of honey-based dressings for the management of wounds and burns. Mr Hewlett said Comvita ha s an 8% ownership of Derma Sciences, a Nasdaq public listed company (Nasdaq:DSCI) and are very pleased to receive the success-based milestone. # Ends # www.comvita.com | |
 | There are now over 120 free manuscripts available to our subscribers. A selection of papers have been uploaded from IBRA's peer reviewed publications of Journal of Apicultural Research, Bee World and JAAS. If you are not a subscriber, the papers can still be accessed for a minimal charge per download. The abstract pages will continue to be updated. | |||
Professor Rose Cooper from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Senior Editor of JAAS & IBRA Trustee has featured on the BBC Wales news website. |  |
Results presented at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology, found that a variety of honey, from bees foraging on manuka trees in New Zealand, proved effective against hard to treat infections.
Professor Cooper's work with two common types of bacteria - streptococci and pseudomonads - revealed that manuka honey can deter the attachment of bacteria to tissue, which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections.
The full story is on the BBC News Wales website.