Manuka honey has slowly but surely been building a fanbase across the world. Rightly so, Manuka honey has been praised for its perceived health benefits, including antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. How exactly is it produced, though?
This blog will clear the air on any questions regarding honey production & certification and explain how pure New Zealand Manuka honey gets from the hive to your home.
Manuka honey is considered a scarce substance across New Zealand. Why? The Manuka flower (Leptospermum scoparium) bees collect nectar and pollen from only blossoms between two and six weeks a year. So it should be no surprise that extracting this honey isn’t the easiest. Helicopters are frequently used to reach remote locations throughout New Zealand to gather this liquid gold.
Bees collect this rare nectar and deposit the resulting Manuka honey into honeycombs. Next, the honeycombs go through a very delicate honey extraction process. This intricate process ensures that beeswax and other impurities are removed from the honey.
The resulting mixture is then kept in large sterile drums to avoid contamination. Here, the honey is lightly churned to break up any clumps. This process is undertaken without heating, influencing the MGO (methylglyoxal) content. This way, the honey remains pure, raw and unpasteurised. Finally, the honey can begin extensive testing to certify 100% pure New Zealand Manuka honey.
Find a reputable Manuka honey brand that can promise you they source honey from one location. This means they can track the honey every step of the way, guaranteeing purity. Additionally, the authenticity of the honey is also critical as some brands worldwide attempt to pass sub-par honey as premium.
Considering Manuka honey is a native product of New Zealand, it’s vital to find a brand that respects the environment. New Zealand has a reputation for being clean and pure; well-produced Manuka honey should be no different. Every step should suit Mother Nature. Also, a conscientious brand should have environmentally-aware beekeepers on its team that respect these strong little workers.
A brand using the best technology to excel in traceability, food production efficiency, and logistics will constantly work towards helping nature thrive.
As perhaps the most crucial part of Manuka honey production, testing ensures genuineness. Therefore, only independent accredited laboratories should conduct the testing of premium brands. Having an unbiased testing facility means that you can be sure you’re purchasing honey that ticks all the necessary boxes.
One of the essential tests for Manuka honey is for the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF™) certification. This certification considers the primary chemical and DNA biomarkers needed to confirm pure Manuka honey.
There are several methods to certify genuine Manuka honey, including:
The difference between the above and UMF™ is that only UMF™ considers all primary chemical bioactive ingredients that have been scientifically proven to lead to perceived health benefits. Thus, a UMF™ certification is the gold standard of Manuka honey validation and can save you plenty of time finding the right honey for you.
Although UMF™ primarily grades raw Manuka honey, this internationally-recognised rating can also be awarded to other products that just contain Manuka honey, including lozenges.
A well-established brand will have several anti-counterfeit measures in place to prevent fraud. For example, PURITI honey has over 11 separate anti-counterfeit measures within the packaging. Buying honey with one-of-a-kind jars will ensure that purchasing pure Manuka honey is precisely that.
When genuine Manuka honey products arrive on your doorstep, you’ll want the reassurance that you’ve purchased the real deal. This is where well-crafted packaging becomes important; you’ll want a jar that reflects the premium nature of 100% pure New Zealand Manuka honey.
At PURITI, our products are UMF™ certified and meet the scientific definition of monofloral Manuka honey set by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). Every honey that we sell meets and exceeds the minimum required leptosperin and MGO concentrations set by UMFHA. As a result, consumers can buy from PURITI with confidence knowing that we are only selling 100% genuine New Zealand Mānuka honey.
Our honey is sourced from one location, and our state-of-the-art laboratories give us the insight to track all Manuka honey every step of the way. In addition, we follow particular methods to sustain our unique monofloral honey composition. As a sacred product of New Zealand, we want to ensure customers receive the best level of quality that PURITI can offer.
If you’re looking to buy high-quality Mānuka honey online, the great selection of items at PURITI will be the perfect place to browse an extensive range of unique products. Buy our Mānuka honey online for all your wellness needs.