A combination of five attributes, being four chemicals and 1 DNA marker from Manuka pollen, is required to authenticate monofloral and multifloral manuka honey according to the Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand (MPI).

To meet this regulation, Fera’s food authenticity and profiling experts conduct the analysis required to highlight the presence, and measure the concentrations of these attributes.

This test combines Fera’s MPI 4 chemical markers test and Fera’s MPI Manuka pollen DNA test to provide a complete package for assessing the authenticity of your manuka honey sample, in line with MPI guidelines.

MPI 4 chemical markers.

This test measures the concentration of the following compounds that are found in genuine manuka honey:

• 3-Phenyllactic acid (3-PLA)
• 2’-Methoxyacetophenone (2'-MAP)
• 4-Hydroxyphenyllactic acid (4-HPLA)
• 2-Methoxybenzoic acid (2-MBA)

This method is accredited to the internationally recognised ISO17025 standard under flexible scope.

MPI Manuka pollen DNA test.

This test confirms that there is sufficient pollen from the Manuka bush in the honey for it to be regarded as Manuka honey. DNA from pollen in the honey is extracted and analysed to confirm the presence of manuka pollen.

This method is accredited to the internationally recognised ISO17025 standard.

For more information on MPI’s Manuka labelling requirements, and the science programme they have undertaken when developing them, visit their website here.