Here is the Thread:
Manuka Honey
Partial info on that thread:
What’s the deal with Manuka Honey?
What’s Real and What’s Not?
While many of us may already know that the Manuka plant is a small shrub or small tree native to New Zealand and southeast Australia known as Manuka (Leptospermum Scoparium), Manuka Honey is produced when honeybees gather their nectar from Manuka flowers which has a distinct flavor which is darker and richer in taste, carrying strong antibacterial and antifungal properties.
What many do not know is the story behind the Manuka Honey product and why there is an industry-created confusion for consumers of the difference between UMF® and MGO™ Manuka Honey and how this confusion came to be. (See Wikipedia for more information regarding Manuka Honey)
As early as 1981, Dr. Peter Molan, Associate Professor at the University of Waikato, studied the ancient healing properties of honey and discovered that some contained antibacterial activity which was not found in any other honey. The Unique Manuka Factor (“UMF®”) was a rating system determined by Dr. Molan to quantify the antibacterial activity that is not present in other non-Manuka honeys.
The Active Manuka Honey Association (“AMHA”), while not a government run organization, was created by certain Manuka Honey producers to enable them to brand New Zealand Manuka Honey using the trademarked UMF® rating system. The purpose, as stated by the AMHA on their website, is to “To develop and maintain for members the UMF® brand as representing products for superior anti-bacterial applications.” Essentially, the AMHA provides licensees the ability to brand their products using the trademark “UMF®” for marketing purposes. As consumers began to realize the health advantages of Manuka Honey, the initial industry-boom began. Today, Dr. Molan, the key figure in the creation of the UMF® rating system, is no longer affiliated with the AMHA or the UMF® rating system. Instead, the UMF® rating system is currently under scrutiny for it’s accuracy (which will be discussed later).
Manuka Health New Zealand, Ltd. (“Manuka Health”), was one of those companies who was originally licensed to market their Manuka Honey products using the UMF® rating system and a member of the AMHA. In July of 2007, they paired up with the University of Dresden’s Head of the Institute of Food Chemistry, Dr. Thomas Henle in an exclusive research program to further understand the significance of Methylglyoxal, the compound responsible for the antibacterial qualities in Manuka Honey. While Manuka Health originally asked the AMHA to join this collaboration, they never became involved.
In January 2008, Dr. Henle and his research group published groundbreaking research in the Journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research pinpointing for the first time, that dietary Methylglyoxal was the compound responsible for giving genuine Manuka Honey its unique antibacterial activity. For years, the scientific community was unconvinced of Manuka Honey’s health-giving properties because it was never able to link it to science. Dr. Henle and his research team’s findings are groundbreaking and Manuka Honey-industry shaking. Most recently, the U.S. National Cancer Institute also mentions the linking of Methylglyoxal to Manuka Honey on their website. (Click here to view)
With the discovery of Methylglyoxal, Manuka Health launched the first product line of Manuka Honey using the new rating system. The purpose of marketing the product using MGO™, was to provide consumers with a transparent, easy to understand system so the consumer would know that the Manuka Honey they purchase contains the levels of antibacterial activity it claims to contain. For example, for MGO™ 100+ Manuka Honey, there is 100 milligrams of dietary Methylglyoxal per kilogram of Manuka Honey. In short, the higher the MGO™ certified Manuka Honey rating, the higher the Methylglyoxal (antibacterial) content. Please note, MGO™ 550+ Manuka Honey is the highest rated Manuka Honey available carrying the MGO™ certification.
One would think that this important discovery would lead the AMHA Manuka Honey licensees to want to join in and also begin using this scientific research to support their honey, but they did not. In fact, in July 2007, after being approached by Manuka Health to join the research campaign with Dr. Henle, they adopted measures to prohibit UMF® licensees from even mentioning Methylglyoxal if they wanted to continue to carry the old-industry standard UMF® rating system. The AMHA even went as far as to attempt to strip Manuka Health of their UMF® license when they launched their MGO™ Manuka Honey marketing campaign, however Manuka Health opted to resign from the AMHA as a licensee and promote its products using their new and consistently accurate rating system.
Where does this leave consumers? Confused – probably with inferior products, which claim to contain a certain level of antibacterial properties which it may or may not, but not aware of the story behind the conflictions. With the old rating system, only a few know how to conduct the test producing the UMF® results, with the MGO™ Manuka Honey Certification System, anyone can repeat the test and results are certified.
Manuka Honey now has two rating systems which are, naturally, in direct competition with each other, one with the backing of a scientific compound (MGO™ Manuka Honey), the other rating system (UMF®) which does not. Of course, this has started the Manuka Honey industry-conflict which has done nothing more than confuse consumers even more. The AMHA has vigorously attempted to discount the new MGO™ certification, but has failed thus far. Recently, the AMHA has been under the microscope for its rating system and for stripping the license of one of New Zealand’s fastest growing Manuka Honey companies for false UMF® level claims made on 65% of tested products packaging.
Furthermore, Dr. Molan, the grandfather of the UMF® rating system and the AMHA, has since publicly distanced himself from the AMHA and the UMF® rating system, as has been stated in the Waikato Times, “Professor Peter Molan has ended a 15-year relationship with the Active Manuka Honey Association which runs the unique manuka factor (UMF®) test system he created. His severing of ties comes against a backdrop of industry infighting over how biologically active Manuka honey should be measured and ranked” (December 2008, click here to view the newspaper article).
No matter what has happened, one thing is certain and all consumers should understand: Manuka Honey is an important, 100% pure, product that is currently being linked to overcoming many health-related disorders. While we’ve only discussed UMF® rated & MGO™ Manuka Honey, consumers need to understand that there are many generic products available to consumers at lower prices, (i.e. “Active,” “Bio-Active,” etc.) which sometimes may contain nothing more than table honey! There are no standards behind these products and anyone is free to make the claims on their label.
Consumers beware, the quality of the product can be determined by the level of antibacterial activity in the honey and MGO™ certified Manuka Honey is the only Manuka Honey on the market certifying consumers get at least the amount of dietary Methylglyoxal per kilogram shown on the label.
Consumers, please ask yourself, “What’s in my honey?”
What more information? See below newspaper articles.
“Row Over Manuka Honey Ratings,” Source: NZPA, December 4, 2008.
(http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvnz_portable_story_skin/2355729)
“Legal Action Looms in Honey Dispute,” Source: Radio News, December 22, 2008.
(http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2008/12/22/1243861ca476)
Professor Henle’s Radio Interview in Ireland, The Weekly Ryan Podcast, September 18,2008.
(http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2008/pc/pod-v-180908-22m31s-weeklyryan.mp3)
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