India may curb honey adulterant imports from China: Report

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The Indian government is planning to curb, or possibly ban, import of high fructose syrup, which is used as an adulterant in some honey brands.

Union MSME minister Nitin Gadkari raised the issue in a letter to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal, The Times of India reported.

"Large quantity of high fructose syrup is imported from China and is widely being sold in the market, used for adulteration with honey, as it is difficult to detect even with sophisticated testing," Gadkari said, as quoted by the paper. He added that this was a serious threat to the honey industry and impacted livelihood.

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Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Earlier in December, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said many major Indian honey brands, such a Dabur and Patanjali, are adulterated with sugar syrup.

An investigation by CSE found that only three out of 13 brands cleared the purity test - Marico's Saffola, Markfed Sohna and Nature's Nectar.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a part of the MSME ministry, has separately approached Goyal. The agency said the high fructose syrup was largely unchecked with huge consignments also routed via Hong Kong, The Times of India reported.