BENGALURU: Consumers in South India are at a health risk of consuming synthetic, adulterated or pesticide-ridden honey even as the demand for the nectar and its byproducts is rising for health and beauty reasons.
Far too few honey samples from southern states are coming up for testing under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission – or Madhukranti, despite the rising number of honey-testing laboratories across India.
To take the quality of honey-testing a few notches higher, the ICAR-IIHR Bengaluru is working on creating methods to detect and trace levels of antibiotics and pesticides in honey.
Untested honey poses health risk, say experts
Abhishek Mandal, Scientist, Regional Honey Testing Lab, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, told The New Sunday Express, “This (testing) is important as farmers spray honeycombs with pesticides to keep them safe from diseases. Once honey is brought under the scope of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification, it is also tested for pesticide residues and the prescribed 17 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) honey quality parameters to ensure better honey quality.”
Another senior scientist at the ICAR- IIHR honey testing centre said, “While the demand for honey is rising, analysis shows that most samples of honey are not suited for consumption. There is a lot of potential in southern India, but the number of samples tested is less.” This means a large section of consumers in southern states are vulnerable to the adverse health impacts of consuming synthetic, pesticides-ridden or adulterated honey.
Experts pointed out that untested honey can put one’s health at risk. Raw and untested honey can contain natural toxins, like grayanotoxin – nicknamed “rhodotoxin” – which is a group of potent neurotoxins found in plants, which can disrupt sodium channels in the body and cause low blood pressure, slow heart rate, dizziness and confusion. This toxin causes poisoning, leading to a range of effects from mild incapacitation to severe cardiac issues, including heart block, which could be fatal. Unlike processed honey, raw honey can also contain pollen grains, which can be allergic to some consumers.
Experts confirmed that honey production from Large Area Multipurpose Societies (LAMPS) has gone up, particularly in South India, but the quality needs to be verified. An official from a LAMP Society in Karnataka said, “Since honey is procured by locals, mostly tribals, most samples are not tested, as testing is costly and time-consuming and these people need quick money.”
Dr Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said enforcement to ensure good quality honey has increased, but awareness among people too needs to go up. Major brands and certified companies send samples for testing as they cannot risk their reputation. But that is not the case with other samples available in the market. At present, as per the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) norms, testing for pesticide residue and other synthesisers is done once a fortnight from select samples.
Officials in the ministry of horticulture said that while Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab lead in honey production, southern states too are catching up, but testing needs to increase for the safety of consumers. As per the National Bee Board, 14,859 beekeepers, 269 beekeeping and honey societies, 150 firms and 206 companies are registered on the Madhukranti portal as of October 2025. Of these, 658 are registered beekeepers from Karnataka with 10,813 bee colonies. In 2024, India produced 1.4 lakh metric tonne of honey which increased to 1.5 lakh metric tonne in the year 2025.