Bashkortostan purchased laboratory to study honey quality for export

UFA,13 September 2018. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/. A special laboratory is working in the republic to determine the quality of honey. This was stated by the Head of Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov during a meeting with Maxim Protasov, the Head of Roskachestvo (non-profit organization to supervise products quality).

“We have quite good laboratories. We really try to meet all the quality requirements. This also applies to one of the most famous of our products - Bashkir honey", said Rustem Khamitov. “We have purchased a specialized, quite expensive laboratory, with chromatography-mass spectrometry, liquid and gas chromatographs. All this allows detecting even traces of polluting ingredients in products.”

It should be marked that international standards impose more stringent requirements on the content of antibiotics and harmful substances in honey. Currently, only three laboratories, where the analysis of honey is conducted in accordance with international standards, operate in the country. According to the Rosselkhoznadzor, the laboratory in Bashkortostan enables to examine honey for compliance with the specifications of the Customs Union. The next step will be to obtain international accreditation.

“In spite of the fact that Russia is among the five largest honey producers in the world (we can really become a major exporter), we found other pollen grains than the grade specified on the labeling in 30 percent of honey,” Maxim Protasov said. “We have revealed a significant amount of unspecified antibiotics and their excess, including a broad list of antibiotics, which have not yet been standardized in Russia. Now, due to our work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rosselkhoznadzor in the near future, they will also be standardized, because earlier this hampered seriously our honey from entering other markets. We can do and will do such work together with your region, as you, definitely, have the highest competence and capabilities.”