Honey remains a valued natural product and has been used by humans as an important
food source, disease treatment, and a healthy sugar source since ancient times. However,
recent reports on the adulteration of honey and honey polluted with contaminants like
pesticides, heavy metals, microorganisms as well as antibiotics have gained public
attention. Thus, this study aimed to assess the quality and safety of imported and locally
produced honey by specifically determining microbial and antibiotic contaminants as
well as the beekeeping practices of honey producers within some locations of the Tamale
metropolis. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather information on the
sources of honey, knowledge of diseases affecting bees, knowledge of contamination of
honey, and knowledge of antibiotics use in honey production from honey producers in
the study area. The procedures outlined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission were
followed to ascertain the microbial quality of the honey sample
s. Also, the Premi® test
kit was used to determine the presence of antibiotics residue in the honey samples. Only
eight honey producers were identified in the study area; they all had knowledge on
contamination of honey. Only two (25 %) of the honey producers had knowledge on
diseases affecting bees and also the use of antibiotics in beekeeping or honey production.
Concerning microbial contaminants,
Listeria
spp.,
Lactobacillus
spp.,
Salmonella
spp.,
Escherichia coli
,
Clostridium
spp.,
Campylobacter
spp., and
Staphylococcus
spp.
were
the microorganisms enumerated upon microbiological quality assessment of 30 honey
sample
s. Furthermore, 27 (90 %) of the honey samples tested positive for the presence
of antibiotics residue of which 6 (85.7 %) were sampled from imported source, whilst
the remaining 21 (91.3 %) were locally produced. Microbial and antibiotic contaminants
found in the honey sampled in the study area support the hypothesis that honey may not
be as pure as might be perceived and this might be a public health concern. Again, since
there is no available record on the screening or antibiotic residue in honey found on the
Ghanaian market, this research is timely and necessary to provide the basis for
intervention policies on the minimum limits of antibiotic residues present in honey.
