The Dispute Over 'Fake' Honey Continues in Latvia 0 8

The Latvian Beekeeping Society (LBS) has announced that the method used by the Estonian laboratory Celvia CC for verifying the authenticity of honey has finally received official accreditation. The lack of such a status was previously the main argument of critics who doubted the results of the studies.

Last year, the LBS reported that 14 out of 20 honey samples purchased in Latvian stores did not meet the criteria for a natural product. According to the society, some of this honey is actually produced industrially rather than by bees, which contradicts the requirements of the EU directive.

At that time, the findings caused a wide resonance, but government agencies did not recognize them. The reason was the lack of official accreditation for the analysis method.

Now the situation has formally changed, but the beekeepers themselves do not expect serious consequences. The chairman of the LBS, Valters Brusbardis, believes that the new accreditation is unlikely to affect state market control.

The Food and Veterinary Service (FVS) is responsible for honey testing in Latvia. It oversees more than 1,500 producers, packers, and sellers of honey.

The FVS emphasizes that it conducts its own inspections annually: it examines labeling, documents regarding the origin of the products, and sends samples to laboratories. In 2024, the service tested 33 honey samples from Latvian stores, and all of them, according to the agency, met quality requirements.

For analyses, the FVS uses an Austrian laboratory, officially recognized by the state as an institution for detecting honey fraud. This is why the results of private laboratories, even if accredited, currently do not have sufficient legal force to ban the sale of a specific product.