Traces of contamination–well preserved in honey : Investigation of veterinary drugs and American foulbrood in honeys of global origin

• Published in: Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit 2015-11, Vol.10 (Suppl 1), p.39-43
• Main Authors: Frerichs, Heike, Himmelreich, Anke, Näumann, Gabriele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Chemistry/Food Science; Conference Proceedings "Food Science Dialog"; Food Science; Life Sciences; Plant Genetics and Genomics
• ISSN: 1661-5751; 1661-5867
• DOI: 10.1007/s00003-015-0995-z

German and imported honeys from non-European countries were analysed for the presence of veterinary drugs and of Paenibacillus larvae spores that might pose a potential threat transmitting AFB into local beehives. The coherence of application levels of antibiotics and the incidence of P. larvae spores were investigated. P. larvae strains from imported honeys and strains isolated from local beehives were characterized by genetically subtyping to investigate a potential correlation of AFB-positive honeys and AFB cases in Hamburg. Whereas almost 50 % of the investigated non-EU honey samples contained at least 1 antibiotic residue, we detected antibiotic residues in only one out of 30 German honeys. As occurring antibiotic residues do not correlate with the presence of AFB spores the use of antibiotics in honey production remains obscure. We showed that the majority of AFB-positive samples from Hamburg and surrounding areas did not derive from imported AFB-positive honeys as the prevalent genotype in Hamburg is clearly distinct.