August 5, 2014
New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has acknowledged methylglyoxal as being an allowable claim in labelling manuka honey.
Scientific evidence has confirmed methylglyoxal as being the key compound in manuka honey, a unique New Zealand product that is highly valued by health-conscious consumers worldwide.
MPI today released the New Zealand government’s interim guidelines for labelling manuka honey.
MPI will allow methyglyoxal, a compound that occurs naturally in manuka honey, to be claimed as a labelling parameter by producers of manuka honey.
Kerry Paul, Manuka Health’s CEO, said MPI’s announcement validated the scientific evidence Manuka Health has championed since 2008.
“It’s great that our standards have finally been adopted by the New Zealand Government,” Kerry said.
“Manuka Health labels its honey based on methylglyoxal content under the trademark MGO Manuka Honey.
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“This statement from the Ministry for Primary Industries reinforces the integrity of Manuka Health’s labelling system. Methylglyoxal content is the only way consumers can be sure they are buying genuine manuka honey, with its active natural compound.
“Our product rating system guarantees a minimum methylglyoxal content, so consumers can have confidence they are buying genuine manuka honey with its unique activity.”
“It should be noted that phenol-equivalency ratings on Manuka honey product labelling, such as 5, 10, 15 etc, are therapeutic claims. From January 2016 these will no longer be allowed under the Food Standards Code,” Kerry said.
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