The Only Import Anyone Routinely Tests
Buried in the food fraud coverage: honey is the only imported food routinely tested for adulteration, and only 5% of it. Everything else runs on trust.
The detail that stuck with me from the food fraud coverage wasn't a scandal at all. It was a line in the reporting about how imports get checked: honey is the only imported food Australia routinely tests for adulteration. Five per cent of it. Pretty much everything else arriving at the ports gets looked at only when something has already gone wrong, and testing for dangerous contaminants has reportedly declined since 2019.
Worth saying clearly: honey wasn't one of the foods the program's lab failed. It came up because of what the testing regime around it says about everything else. One food gets routine checks. The rest is paperwork and trust.
So why honey? Because worldwide, honey is one of the most faked foods there is, and it has been for years. The system tests honey because honey earned it.
And to be fair to the local shelf: when supermarket honey here was accused of being cut with syrup some years back, our consumer regulator investigated and found no evidence to support the claim. I wrote about this when I compared supermarket honey with a beekeeper's jar. The honest difference was never fake versus real. It's blended-for-sameness versus honey from one set of hives, in one place, during one flowering.
A jar with an address
A beekeeper's jar doesn't need a testing regime, because it doesn't have an anonymous supply chain to police. It has an address. The person who sells it to you ran the hives, knows what was flowering and when it was spun, and will happily tell you why this season's batch is darker than the last one. Try getting that from a barcode.
Beekeepers live on the map
Honey on SideStall is a South Australian and Tasmanian affair right now, and I'd rather tell you that than imply otherwise:
- Karoonda Honey near Callington SA
- Valley Blooms Honey at Auburn in the Clare Valley SA, which lists raw honey
- 3 Hives Apiary at Nuriootpa SA
- Fridge on Hicks near Yolla TAS, which lists leatherwood
If you keep bees anywhere else in the country, that list is a gap with your name on it. Listing a stall takes about ten minutes.
New here? SideStall is a free app that maps the farm gates, roadside stalls and honesty boxes near you. Get it for iPhone or Android.
For the record: the import-testing figures were reported alongside the ABC's Four Corners investigation in late July 2026; the earlier honey investigation finding is the ACCC's. Honey was not among the products the program's testing failed.
Download the SideStall app, free on iPhone and Android, and find the hives near you.
Keep bees? List your stall on SideStall. It's free to start, there's no monthly fee to take payments, just a small service fee plus card processing when a buyer pays, and buyers are actively looking for exactly what you do. Set up your stall →
Cover photo: Karoonda Honey.