It’s World Bee Day!

We all understand that pollination is a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on insect and animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity, which matters to us all.

The honey that bees provide us with is also a key product in our food chain, on a global basis, as this chart explains: (Source www.livebeekeeping.com)

So Happy World Bee Day!

Why is Sercon getting excited about bees and honey?

Well, believe it or not however, honey is a much adulterated product and subject to rigorous testing on import and export around the world. Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) is invaluable in food testing applications, providing detailed insights into the geographic origin and authenticity of food products.

By analysing stable isotopic signatures of elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in food samples, IRMS can detect adulteration, verify organic labelling, and trace the provenance of ingredients. This technology ensures quality control, enhances food safety, and helps maintain consumer trust by confirming that products meet specified standards and claims. Find out more here.

Many honey processers, including Melinda Ltd in Greece and Minerva Scientific in Derby use our EA-IRMS solutions to look at the 13C data from sugars to check the origin and purity of the sugars.

The Integra2 is the only combined benchtop integrated EA-IRMS, combining many of the high level design features of our IRMS and EA instruments, including our innovative trapping loop technology, a stainless steel flight tube, thoria coated filament which is resistant to oxidation, and our high sensitivity source is now available as an optional upgrade. This combined EA-IRMS is a product unique to Sercon and provides excellent data without breaking the budget. Capable of analysing samples for both 15N and 13C simultaneously with a 34S or 18O option, the Integra2 provides the most cost effective and easy to use elemental and isotopic analyser available.

If you work in food testing and would like explore our instrumentation, contact us at [email protected].

#applicationnotes #worldbeeday

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