**1. Honey Quality and Authenticity**

Many attempts have been made to define food quality. One of them is based on the theory of a multidimensional set of features that can be objective (measurable, taking into account research results) or subjective (immeasurable, taking into account the opinion of the consumer) [1,2]. A universal definition of quality has been proposed in an international standard on quality management: "Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent properties meets the requirements" [3]. This definition can also be applied to food, and the requirements mentioned here can be both requirements contained in legal acts and consumer requirements. Food product quality is a concept that corresponds to a set of many attributes (e.g., product specific features, product safety, acceptance by the consumer). One of the attributes of food quality is its authenticity. Food authentication and traceability are current topics in the food sector since they enable food quality and safety control [4,5]. According to researchers, the authenticity of the product is understood as confirmation of the requirements for ensuring quality, composition, safety, usability, brand, and origin along with the information/declaration provided to the consumer by the manufacturer. It determines whether the product is really what the manufacturer declared [6–10]. The global definition of food authentication is problematic. There is no clear definition of this concept in legal acts covering the US, EU countries and cooperating countries. The definition of food authenticity is also not included in the Codex Alimentarius, which introduces and promotes definitions and requirements for food that facilitate the harmonization of international food circulation. Only the definition of contamination is formulated here, but there is no definition of authenticity or the adulteration of food [11].

The definition of authenticity has evolved over time and with the development of production, research infrastructure and research. Initially, this phenomenon was associated

**Citation:** Zak, N.; Wilczy ´ ˙ nska, A. The Importance of Testing the Quality and Authenticity of Food Products: The Example of Honey. *Foods* **2023**, *12*, 3210. https://doi.org/10.3390/ foods12173210

Academic Editor: Evandro Bona

Received: 29 June 2023 Revised: 16 August 2023 Accepted: 24 August 2023 Published: 25 August 2023

**Copyright:** © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

only with food counterfeiting and misleading the consumer. The composition of the product was changed without informing consumers. For example, more valuable ingredients were replaced with less valuable ones. The counterfeit product resembled the original product, but its quality was lower [12]. Further actions violating the authenticity of the products and intentionally misleading the consumer concerned their improper labeling. For example, terms such as "bio", "eco", "protected designation of origin" and "protected geographical indication" were used unlawfully without identifying the origin of the raw materials [5,8,13,14].

In the case of food, it is much more often said that it is adulterated than authentic. According to Spink and Moyer [15], food adulteration is: "A collective term that includes knowingly and intentionally substituting, adding, tampering with, or misrepresenting food, food ingredients, or food packaging: false or misleading claims about a product for economic gain". However, according to Everestine et al. [16], "food is adulterated intentionally for financial gain".

It is also a great challenge to clearly define the quality and authenticity of products, taking into account their multi-criteria parameters. For this, fast and reliable methods must be available, which will be supported by specific and reliable markers. All this is aimed at withdrawing counterfeit products from the market, but also at preventing similar accidents [17]. Below, Table 1 presents the factors that define the quality and authenticity of food products and the methods of their assessment.


**Table 1.** Factors that define the quality of food products and the methods of their assessment.

Source: [2,4,18–20].

The evaluation of the quality of food products through the performance of a series of analyses and tests is a requirement resulting from legal acts. The main purpose of these rules is to ensure food safety. In addition, food products must meet the requirements of consumers and companies [21,22]. The quality of food products is also treated as an element of marketing, competitiveness and company prestige, which translates into an increase in profits [12].

Being a natural product, honey is also considered to be one of the most frequently adulterated products. Therefore, issues related to ensuring its quality and safety have put it at the forefront of the mind of global trading concerns and food regulatory agencies [23]. The literature gives the opportunity to indicate many practices used by beekeepers and honey producers that distort the authenticity of honey, such as the following:


Honey is subject to the general requirements of the EU and national legislation. Presently, obligatory quality requirements for Polish honey are specified in the Resolution of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, dated 3 October 2003, regarding the detailed requirements for the commercial quality of honey. The above resolution basically corresponds with the requirements of the Worldwide Standard for honey, developed and approved by the Commission of Food Code from 2001 (Codex Alimentarius: Draft revised standard for honey 2001) [11], and to the European Directive for honey [33]. Evaluation of the quality of honey in accordance with those standards includes determining its organoleptic characteristics, distinguishing dominant pollens and indicating its basic physicochemical parameters (moisture, electrical conductivity, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural content, apparent reducing sugars, apparent sucrose, insoluble matter and diastase activity). Table 2 presents limit values for individual physicochemical parameters and an interpretations of their excess.

**Table 2.** Physicochemical requirements for honeys, including the interpretation of exceeded parameters.


