Allen dick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> we got back reports of butyric levels in our honey...

> ...makes me wonder how much science there is behind
> a lot of residue testing, both the theory and the practice,
> and how much is just plain old fanciful extrapolation and
> other forms of guessing.

Laboratories are paid to produce a number, they are not paid to explain the
meaning of that number.
A terrible practice in my opinion.

Take Butyric acid for instance.

How is it made by man?
In the old days it was made commercially from the fermentation of sugars and
starches by various fungi, a messy but effective process.  Here in
Australia, you can forget to put the butter in the fridge and produce a good
supply ;)

How is it made by bees?
The same way.  Although, I doubt they appreciate it, the production of
butyric acid will continue until the fungi is dead and the honey mature.
Thus, you could conclude that ALL honey has some background level of butyric
acid in it.

I am not familiar with what the American tolerance for butyric acid in honey
is. But if this level is near the normal background level then it is bound
to create problems until people start to realise what the numbers mean.

In Australia, we have the same problem with naturally occurring 'chemicals',
that create 'false positives' all the time.  A responsible (thinking?)
laboratory will account for the problem through good science and a knowledge
of the chemical they are dealing with.  However, in an increasingly
commercial world lab results are being used more and more as leverage in
contract renegotiations without due regard for the science behind them.

As food for thought, what kind of fat do you put in your grease paddies,
these turning rancid may also be a source of butyric acid contamination,
bees may even produce it as a metabolite (just a thought)!

The point I'm making is that this is a naturally occurring substance, a
detection by itself is not necessarily an indication of bad management, it
could be an indication of any number of problems happening from the flower
to the bottle, a number is a number, the devil is in the interpretation!

Has anyone done any research comparing butyric acid levels in fumed and
unfumed honey?

Karl Adamson
Canberra


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