Honey is made up of 80% sugar. Most of that sugar consists of glucose and fructose after sucrose, which is the main component of nectar, has been broken down by the digestive enzymes of bees. Glucose and fructose are monosaccharides that do not need further digestion once in the body, so in comparison with sugar, they are quickly absorbed and do not strain the gastrointestinal tract. Besides the sugar, honey also contains a lot of natural ingredients: minerals such as calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as vitamins and amino acids in balanced amounts.
We take care of every step of the process, starting from the management of our precious apiaries.
The management of apiaries
Whether in Japan or overseas, every time we harvest honey at one of our directly managed beehives or from our affiliates, we manage and record the process carefully so that we know exactly “when it was harvested, where, by whom”. This system is called traceability.
■ Checkpoint
it is because we know our producers personally that we can deliver our honey with peace of mind.
We employ analysis equipment to ensure safety.
Inspection of raw materials
At Matsujiro no Mise, we check the quality of the honey from our apiaries by conducting testing for residual pesticides, antibiotics, and heavy metals in all lots, including oxytetracycline, streptomycin, neonicotinoid pesticides, and glyphosate, and verifying over 300 quality requirements.
■ Test methods
GC/MS/MS method, LC/MS/MS method, ICP emission spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectrometry.
