JoyFusions

Recently, I got an email from one of our reader checking on some Manuka Honey related questions, I feel that these are good questions and I believe that many other might have the same questions too, so I decided to share the questions and my understanding to the question with the rest of the readers in this post.

 

1) Why are there different shades of brown for Manuka Honey?

Manuka honey is produce from the nectar of the flowers of Manuka Bush, also known as the New Zealand tea tree (Leptospermum scoparium). There are different colours for the flowers of Manuka Bush, mainly white, pink and dark red. The nectar collected by the bees from different colour of the flowers will result in the different shades of brown for Manuka Honey.

 

Therefore, to put into simple term, the different shade of brown that you observed is due to the honey being collected from different colour of flower.

 

Another point to note is that, in order to be label as Manuka honey, it need to have a Manuka pollen count of at least 70%, this mean that despite having the bee hives surrounded by Manuka Trees, chances are that the bees might also harvest from other flowers from the wild which in turn affect the colour of the honey.

 

2) Is it true that the darker the colour, the more nutritious it is.

Currently, there is no conclusion to prove that this is the case; the reason is that harvested Manuka Honey needs to be tested in a lab in order to rate its antibacterial potency and activity levels. And not all Manuka Honey has antibacterial potency and activity levels. Therefore it is unlikely to differentiate if it is more nutritious just from the colour.

 

3) Do we bring in other brands beside Organic Harvest Manuka Honey?

Yes and No, we do carry another brand but it is currently out of stocks, therefore it is not listed in the website. We are also looking for other alternative source of Manuka Honey to add to our list of Manuka Honey choices in the website for our customer who might prefer certain taste from certain brand.

 

One last thing, have you have this question why certain brand of the Manuka Honey taste differently from another brand? Based on information that I got, not all Manuka Honey is 100% made from nectar of Manuka Bush. One of the reasons is that we can’t really control the bee to harvest just from a certain group of flowers; and it is likely that the bees had visited other flowers during their nectar collection trip. It all boils down to the surrounding of the hives where the bees are kept.

I would like to thank this reader (Chin) for sending me the email asking these questions. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave us a comment below or send us an email. We will try to find out the answers for you if we do not know it ourselves so that everyone will benefit. Lastly, like to thank Bernhard for helping me answer the questions too.

 

 

I have been thinking on how I can share my new knowledge regarding the UMF term that we can commonly see on Manuka Honey, so I come out with a conversation of two friends over Manuka Honey. I hope it can help to answer some of the questions that you might have.

 

Joy: Hey, my friends was talking about Manuka Honey during lunch today, do you know what does the term “UMF” commonly found on Manuka Honey mean?

Fusions: Oh, it stand for “Unique Manuka Factor”

 

Joy: So do you know what is the label UMF for?

Fusions: It is a guarantee and measure of the antibacterial potency of the Manuka Honey.

 

Joy: How do you know it has that guarantee and measure of antibacterial potency for the Manuka Honey?

Fusions: Well, samples of the Manuka Honey are sent to laboratory for testing for antibacterial activity, these tests measure the presence of and level of the UMF actibacterial property. It can be detected only by special laboratory testing.

 

Joy: So what is the difference between the number typically found on the Manuka Honey?

Fusions: Hmm, the difference in rating determine the antibacterial strength, for example, for rating of 5-9, it is a nice table honey but not very useful in term of special therapeutic use. And for rating 10-15, this level is endorsed by the Honey Research Unit at The University of Waikato as an useful levels, and for 16 and over, it is consider as superior levels with very high activity.

 

Joy: What can it be use for?

Fusions: Studies show that for Manuka Honey with high levels of UMF are very effective in helping relieve stomach ulcer symptoms and gastritis. Beside that, it can also assist in healing of skin ulcers, wounds, burn, boils, cracked skin if applied topically.

 

Joy: Wow, does that explain why Manuka Honey is generally more expensive than other honey we seen?

Fusions: That is part of the reason, another reason is that UMF is an industry registered name, trademark which is owned by a group of private businessmen which are not controlled or checked by any official agency of the NZ Government and it is very expensive to join and stay a member – all of which certainly does not help the importers and / or final customers.

 

Joy: If this is the case, why do people still want to buy Manuka Honey with UMF?

Fusions: Well, “UMF” has certainly more credibility and another reason I believe is that not much consumer actually realize that part of the cost they are paying is actually to those private businessmen.

 

Joy: Is there other alternative to the label UMF?

Fusions: I heard of MGO Manuka Stardard, but it is also owned and controlled by the respective owner/trademark holders and there are news that MGO seems to loose a lot of credibility due to the fact that even honey from Australia has now much higher “MGO” levels  and there is still a lack of evidence that proves that “MGO” is a “good” alternative standard to measure Manuka Activity.

 

Joy: Huh, so we have to pay more to those private businessmen just for the term UMF??

Fusions: Not really, actually in European Union, they are looking into the TA (TOTAL ACTIVITY) for Manuka Honey instead. TA can also be tested at very little cost and at identical results as compared to the independent labs in New Zealand meaning you do not have to pay more for the Manuka Honey just for the “UMF” label.

 

Joy: Oh, I see.. but is TA comparable to UMF?

Fusions: Not really, we cannot really compare the TOTAL ACTIVITY with “UMF” or “MGO”. However, if you get to see the test result for TOTAL ACTIVITY- TA and the “non peroxide activity” which is usually used as basis for any claim for “UMF” , the two numbers are very similar or even identical.

 

Joy: Wow.. I’m going to share this knowledge with my friends immediately..

Fusions: Yes, you should, Manuka Honey is a wonderful natural product and no one should be paying extra money just for the term “UMF” if TOTAL ACTIVITY is just good.

 

Joyfusions Admin Wish You A Happy Chinese New Year!!

 

Chinese New Year is approaching, check out our new Manuka Honey Customize Label Design for Chinese New Year.

 

CNY0001

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CNY0004

CNY0005

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You can also customize your own design, just send the file that you wanted to print on the label to us.

 

Buy Now or Find out the Order Steps.

If you have any questions, you can refer to our Q&A or simply contact us.

Where is it tested?

UMF level of Manuka Honey is tested in an accredited independent laboratory in New Zealand.

 

Why is it tested?

Research at the University of Waikato showed that some New Zealand manuka honey (and it is important to emphasise “some”, not all) contains an extraordinary, naturally present, very stable and powerful non-peroxide antibacterial activity not found in any other variety of honey and there are different level of antibacterial activity due to natural variations in plant metabolism and differences in manufacturing and processing.

Therefore there is a need for assaying and certifying the unique non-peroxide antibacterial activity of manuka honey.

 

How is it tested?

The presence of the special non-peroxide activity in the honey can be detected only by an array of scientific testing directly relating to a standard antibacterial agent “Phenol”.

The UMF rating has a one-to-one relationship to the phenol standard. For example, UMF15+ Manuka honey has the same non-peroxide activity as a 15% phenol solution.

 

Joyfusions Admin Wish You A Merry Christmas!

 

How can we Get More Natural Organic Goodness With Less?

 

Joyfusions will be one year old this coming Dec 2011, and we decided to celebrate it by giving our customers a free bottle (one litre) of Wildly Organic Pomegranate Juice worth S$9.80 with every S$150 worth of Manuka Honey purchased from our range of reliable Organic Manuka Honey.

 

For more info, refer to the attached file below.

 

 

If you have been seeing or heard the term “Manuka Honey” recently maybe from your friends or from the shelves of the supermarket and was wondering to yourself what is Manuka Honey, is it just another brand of honey, then perhaps you can take a look at our page  “What is Manuka Honey” to find out the answers.

 

In the page “What is Manuka Honey” , you can also find out what is the term “UMF” commonly seen on the Manuka Honey Bottle stand for and why there is a difference in the value (10+, 15+ and 25+).

 

Beside the difference in prices, what does the rating indicate? And why is it so expensive as compare to “normal” honey? Why is it important to get Manuka Honey with UMF standard? You can find all the answers in the page “What is Manuka Honey”

 

 

During one of the gathering session with my old time friends recently, one of my friend was sharing with me on how his childrens didn’t like the taste of the Manuka Honey despite the goodness of it. After the discussion, I keep thinking of the issue that my friend is facing and was hoping to come out with some ways to help him solve this issue.

 

One day while on my way for jogging session, the  idea Manuka Honey Milk Shake come across my mind. Immediately, I went ahead and tried out a few experiments on how I can do it easily and taste great and finally come out with this simple to do method. Following are the ingredients require, steps and a video to show how is it done base on the result of the experiments.

 

Manuka Honey Milk Shake (Serve 2)

 

Ingredient:

• 1 glass of milk
• ¾ glass of ice
• ¼ glass of water (Room Temperature)
• 1 tablespoon of Manuka Honey

 

Equipment:

• Blender

 

Steps:

1)      Mix the Manuka Honey in the room temperature water and stir until it dissolve.

2)      Pour the milk, ice and the Manuka Honey Water into the blender.

3)      Blend the mixtures for 1 minute.

Done!

 

Following is the video that we had created,

 

Do leave us a comment on how you think about this Manuka Honey Milk Shake. Thanks