Wedderspoon Caught Misrepresenting the Potency of its Manuka Honey

A laboratory analysis reveals that the Canadian supplier has been selling Manuka honey with little to no antibacterial activity and passing it off as bioactive.

All types of honey have the ability to produce low levels of hydrogen peroxide, which is a natural antibacterial agent. What makes Manuka honey from New Zealand different is that, in addition to its ability to produce hydrogen peroxide, it also contains a non-peroxide activity which researchers believe has a synergistic action with the H2O2, making it superior to other honeys in terms of its antibacterial activity.

The Manuka honey industry has been representing the non-peroxide activity on the labels of each jar of Manuka honey since the University of Waikato developed the Honey Assay Method. The numbers listed on the label of a jar of Manuka honey are comparable to a solution with the same percentage of phenol. For example, Manuka Honey with a non-peroxide activity of 15+ has the antibacterial equivalence to a solution that is 15% phenol.

Because of the impressive antibacterial compounds found in Manuka honey, it has become an extremely sought after commodity. It is also a very rare honey. As a result, the price of Manuka honey has steadily increased over the past few years. The cost of a 500 gram jar of Active 16+ Manuka honey can range from $40 to $60 USD. This is why it was difficult to understand how Wedderspoon could sell their Manuka honey for such a surprisingly low price.

The only conclusion is that Wedderspoon is not selling a quality honey. The results of an analysis performed by NZLabs on two different Wedderspoon products were disclosed yesterday. The analysis included a jar labeled as Active 16+ and another jar labeled as Active 12+, both of which were found to have non-peroxide and total peroxide activity of less than 8.2 which is as low as the test goes. This suggests that the potency of the Wedderspoon Manuka Honey had to be either extremely low or nonexistent. It certainly confirms that the honeys were not of the potency that they were labeled as having.

“This is not only unethical and dishonest, it’s an absolute disgrace,” says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International which is a U.S. importer of Manuka honey. “This type of inactive Manuka honey will not yield the same medicinal results that people have come to expect.” Buonanotte is concerned that if consumers use Wedderspoon Manuka honey, thinking that it is a high active when it is really a low active or inactive, it will make them lose faith in the potential healing benefits of this amazing natural resource.

Wedderspoon has been able to get away with this deceptive and fraudulent practice because the FDA doesn’t recognize honey of any kind as being an antibacterial agent. Therefore, they do not have a role in regulating the potency level of Manuka honey. Nevertheless, consumers have come to recognize the numbers indicated on the label as the potency level. Wedderspoon has twisted the general public’s understanding of Manuka honey’s antibacterial activity by misleading their customers into thinking that they were getting more than what they paid for.

It is uncertain how this news will affect Wedderspoon’s reputation or sales. This matter has been reported to the Office of the Inspector General, USDA, FDA, FTC and Health Canada. Consumers are warned not be fooled by the misrepresentation of Wedderspoon’s Manuka honey. If you are interested in purchasing quality Manuka honey that has a true bioactive potency, go with the many other reputable suppliers who accurately display the non-peroxide activity on the front label of each jar.